But don’t politicise former Armyman’s suicide
Retired Subedar Ram Kishan Grewal’s suicide has rattled the nation. His death has acutely brought the issue of one-rank-one pension (OROP) to the forefront of the political agenda of opposition parties. It must be brought to light that the OROP had been gathering dust for decades, till the NDA Government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a decision to implement it. However, subsequent negotiations with Army veterans failed as there were many contentious issues that needed careful consideration after its implementation. Hence, the Government appointed a committee in December 2015, under the chairmanship of Justice l Narasimha Reddy, retired Chief Justice of the Patna High Court, to look into the anomalies, if any, arising out of the implementation of the OROP.
This one-man judicial commission submitted its report to the Minister for Defence Manohar Parrikar on October 26, 2016. Meanwhile, when the tragic incident of Subedar Grewal took place, instead of playing politics over a dead Armyman, political parties should have pressured the Government to ensure that the creases on OROP are ironed out. It is sad that senior leaders like the Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, are trying to take mileage out of the death of the Armyman. He should have rather brought to the public what his party had done for the veterans when the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was in power for a decade. It was reported that the UPA Government had barely allotted Rs500 crore at the fag end of its second term for the OROP. Considering the huge amount needed, this could rightly be called as insufficient. More so, handling such sensitive issues in a manner like this, was more of an insult to the lakhs of pensioners in the Army. When it comes to concerns shown by the Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, it must be said that he should better put his own house in order before venturing out to deliberate on such pressing issues.
It is highly deplorable that leaders who claim to represent and share the concerns of the commoners, display such conduct outside a public hospital in the peak hours of traffic. Both Gandhi and Kejriwal were accompanied by their party supporters who were literally blocking all the routes to the hospital without realising the implications in case an emergency situation had occurred the same day and time. Sharply reacting to the protests taken out by the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party, Parrikar stated that “Modi Government moved swiftly to implement the OROP which was hanging fire for 43 years.
Unlike the previous Governments, we did not pay lip service, but an additional provision of Rs29,000 crore in the Budget was made”. Besides, Union Minister for Finance Arun Jaitley has assured that the recommendations of the Reddy committee would be implemented soon. This demonstrates the NDA Government’s sincerity in seeking to take the OROP issue to a logical conclusion.The Government is showing sincere interest in resolving the OROP issue, despite problems associated with it. With Grewal’s suicide, the Government must fast-forward its efforts to overcome the rest of the hurdles, without excuses. The sad incident must serve as a reminder to all that issues must not be kept lingering.