Government okays OROP implementation

Making the announcement at a press conference, Parrikar, flanked by Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh, Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, Army chief General Dalbir Singh, Navy chief Admiral R K Dhowan and Defence Secretary G Mohan Kumar, said an order implementing the scheme was likely to come in a fortnight to a month.

Agitated ex-servicemen later in the evening met Parrikar at his residence to discuss modalities of the government’s proposal for resolution of the issue but they said they won’t compromise on their key demands.

Major General Satbir Singh (Retd) told reporters after the meeting that they discussed the issue of OROP being denied to those who take premature retirement. “Premature retirement was the one point we wanted to discuss. The defence minister confirmed there is no VRS in the armed forces, there is just premature retirement,” he said.

“After this statement, yes, we are satisfied,” he added.

He said a decision on calling off the agitation will be taken soon.

“One Rank One Pension” scheme is nothing but payment of uniform pension to military personnel who retire in the same rank with the same length of service. Parrikar squarely blamed the previous Congress-led government for miscalculations on <g data-gr-id="137">OROP,</g> and said it led to the delay in its implementation. He also quoted a reply by a former minister of state for defence in Parliament in 2009, who had said “there are administrative, technical and financial difficulties in implementing OROP”.

“It is for these reasons that the present government took some time to fulfill its promise,” he said. 

The estimated cost to the exchequer for the scheme will be Rs 8,000-10,000 crore, and the arrears will amount to around Rs 12,000 crore.

The scheme announced by the government will take 2013 as the base year to calculate pensions.

“Pensions will be re-fixed for all pensioners retiring in the same rank and with <g data-gr-id="130">same</g> length of service as the average of <g data-gr-id="129">minimum</g> and maximum pension in 2013,” Parrikar said. Those drawing pension above the average will be protected.

Parrikar said the government came to power on May 26, <g data-gr-id="136">2014</g> and the budget came in June, so the date of implementation will be immediately after that, which was July 1, 2014. The period for review is five years, something that has been a major sticking point.

Another major issue is that the government’s scheme is not for those who seek voluntary retirement, even though Parrikar said that those who are forced to take retirement due to injuries obtained during service will be protected.

The arrears are to be paid in four installments, at a gap of every six months. To war widows, the arrears will be given in one installment. Rao Inderjit said veterans above 60 years of age will also get arrears in one go. 

Announcing the scheme, Parrikar said the government was dedicated to the scheme which has been pending for “40 years”.

“The issue of OROP has been pending for nearly four decades. It is a matter of deep anguish that various governments remained ambivalent on the issue of OROP,” said Parrikar.