The meeting with Prime Minister's Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra at the PMO came on a day when a third veteran joined the fast-unto-death at Jantar Mantar here, where the ex-servicemen have been protesting for 65 days demanding early implementation of OROP.
"We met Nripendra Misra in the morning. He stressed that normalcy should be restored. Asked what he meant by that, he said the fast-unto-death should be called off. We told him that if there is a concrete assurance, we will stop it," Lt Gen Balbir Singh (<g data-gr-id="51">Retd</g>), President of Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement said.
He said that since a round of talks have already been held with Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who had sought 10 days time to discuss the issue with Prime Minister, "there won't be any escalation of protest for ten days".
Maj Gen Satbir Singh (<g data-gr-id="44">Retd</g>), who along with Lt Gen Balbir met Misra in the morning for an hour said they have made it clear that definition of OROP will remain the same.
"We have also sought an assured date for implementation of OROP and the date of effect will remain April 1, <g data-gr-id="45">2014</g> as was decided by the government," Satbir said.
Col Anil Kaul (<g data-gr-id="42">Retd</g>), media advisor to United Front of Ex-Servicemen (UFESM), said Misra had stressed that the three who have gone on a fast-unto-death be requested to not go ahead.
"We told him that it was an individual decision and members are trying to pursue them to call off their fast," he said.
Modi had on August 15 reiterated his government's commitment towards the OROP but refrained from giving a time frame on its implementation.
The Centre has maintained that the scheme will be implemented as soon as the technical difficulties are resolved. On Monday, 10 former Service Chiefs had written to the Prime Minister pressing for expeditious resolution of the OROP issue.
The letter, signed by former Army chiefs V N Sharma, Shankar Roy Choudhary, S Padmanabhan, N C Vij, J J Singh, Deepak Kapoor and Bikram Singh, regretted that Modi did not announce implementation of OROP in his Independence Day address, dashing the hopes of ex-servicemen.
Former Navy chief Admiral Madhvendera Singh and former Air Force chiefs N C Suri and S P Tyagi were also signatories to the letter. In a statement, UFESM said their advisory council had met Parrikar on August 16 at his residence over the issue.
"He advised us to postpone fast-unto-death till August 24 as he would meet with the Prime Minister on August 23 and would attempt to get the solution to this vexed problem," the statement said. It added that the advisory council had counselled the veterans to delay the fast-unto-death, but they were determined to go ahead because of "total neglect of government to ex-servicemen problems".
Delhi Police apologises to ex-servicemen for crackdown
Facing flak for the crackdown on agitating ex-servicemen who are demanding ‘one rank, one pension’, Delhi Police on Tuesday apologised to them for its action following a directive from India’s Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Joint Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) M K Meena went to the protest venue at Jantar Mantar and apologised for the August 14 action which had <g data-gr-id="69">trigerred</g> strong political reaction as well as outrage among the former soldiers. Sources said Delhi Police’s apology came after the Home Minister sought details of the police action. He also directed the police officials to reach out to the agitators.
The police on Friday had tried to evict the protesting ex-servicemen from Jantar Mantar ahead of the Independence Day celebrations citing security reasons. The ex-servicemen had called the police action “barbaric” and “undemocratic”. “On August 14, misunderstanding had taken place. We have discussed the issue in detail. At <g data-gr-id="73">times</g> some confusion takes place. We will try to take corrective action. I want to say that our intention was not to hurt the soldiers,” Meena, flanked by a number of ex-servicemen, told reporters. He said Delhi Police respects the ex-servicemen and that it will ensure their protection.