The Government on Saturday announced the much-awaited ‘One Rank, One Pension’ (OROP) for ex-servicemen outlining a seven-point agenda for its implementation.
The agitating veterans welcomed the decision — a partial victory for them — but rejected six of the seven clauses, including that of “no OROP benefits to personnel who take pre-mature retirement”, and asserted that they will continue their agitation. The Government appealed to them to end their protest. However, the veterans instead announced a massive rally on September 12.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, flanked by the three Service chiefs, announced the decision to implement the long-pending OROP scheme entailing a cost of Rs8,000-Rs10,000 crore. The scheme will be effective from July 1, 2014, fixed in view of the Narendra Modi Government coming to power on May 26 last year. The key announcement was expected ahead of the Election Commission’s likely notification of Bihar Assembly polls on Monday.
Reading out the decision, which came as the veterans’ agitation entered the 84th day, Parrikar said the NDA Government was going ahead with OROP despite “huge fiscal burden” as it had given its commitment to the welfare of ex-servicemen. While it will cost the exchequer Rs8,000 to Rs10,000 crore in the first year, the Minister said it will increase further in future.
The expenditure on arrears alone will be Rs 10,000 to 12,000 crore, he said. An officer is eligible for pension after 20 years of service while a jawan is entitled for the same after 15 to 17 years of service.
Parrikar said the OROP issue has been pending for more than four decades and it is a matter of “deep anguish that the various Governments remained ambivalent” on the issue of OROP. He said it is pertinent to mention that the then Minister of State for Defence in 2009, had, in reply to a question, informed Parliament that there are administrative, technical and financial difficulties in implementing OROP.
“It is for these reasons that the present Government took some time to fulfil its promise,” Parrikar said in an apparent effort to assuage the feelings of veterans protesting against the delay.
The Government acted tough for those soldiers and officers, who seek pre-mature retirement, by keeping them outside the ambit of OROP. With Parrikar terming it as VRS in his press conference, the ex-servicemen later met him over the issue. They emerged to say they were satisfied with his clarification that it meant premature retirement.
Parrikar maintained the interest of personnel opting for premature retirement due to injuries will be protected. The new pension structure will also apply to personnel who have already retired prematurely.
The six other clauses of OROP scheme include clearing pension arrears of all widows including war widows in one go and clearance of arrears to all other ex-servicemen in four half-yearly instalments. There are more than six lakh widows and 24 lakh veterans. Moreover, 50,000 to 60,000 armed forces personnel retire every year. The pension budget, at present, is more than Rs 50,000 crore.
The scheme is effective from July 1, 2014, and contrary to veterans' demand for an annual pension revision it outlines revision every five years. Currently, pension for all central Government employees, including Armed Forces, are revised and increased every 10 years by the Pay Commission.
The Government, in fact, went a step further by calculating pension from 2013 even though the veterans had been demanding the cut-off year to be from 2014. While pension will be re-fixed for all pensioners as the average of minimum and maximum pension in 2013, the pension of those drawing more than the average will be protected.
The Government also announced setting up a one-member judicial committee to work out details of implementation of the OROP. The committee will file its report in six months, the Minister said, adding the defence ministry will issue a detailed Government order soon.
Reacting to the announcement, leader of the agitating ex-servicemen Major General Satbir Singh (retired) said while the veterans were satisfied with the Government's intention to implement the OROP, the proposed benefits were not acceptable to them.
Rejecting the provisions for pension revision after every five years and keeping those who take VRS out of the scheme among others, Singh said, “According to us, the Government has accepted one of our demands
and rejected six...At this point we cannot withdraw the agitation based on these details. We also disapprove setting up of one-member judicial committee.”
Asserting that they needed clarification on various issues, Singh said the agitation will continue and the future course of action will be decided shortly.
Meanwhile, in a bid to reach out to agitating veterans, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said in Pune if there were any shortcomings in the OROP, the Government may look into it.
What Government gave
* OROP benefit will be effective from July 1, 2014
o Base year for OROP would be 2013, the cut-off year for calculating pension
* Arrears to be paid in four half-yearly installments. But all widows, including war widows, will be paid arrears in one installment
o Pension will be re-fixed for all pensioners retiring in the same rank and with the same length of service as the average of minimum and maximum pension in 2013. Those drawing pensions above the average will be protected
* Personnel who opt for premature retirement will not be covered under OROP scheme. But those opting for premature retirement due to injuries will be protected
o In future, pension of ex-servicemen will be revised every five years
* A one-member Judicial Panel will look into the interest of retirees. It will give its report in six months
What Veterans want
* Benefits should be effective from April 2014
o No contention as they wanted base year of 2014
* Clarity on its modalities
o Clarifications on issues like pre-mature retirement benefits and averaging of pension
* OROP benefits for even those who have taken premature retirement because 90 per cent of service personnel retire between 35 to 40 years of age, and will lose lakhs of rupees
o Pension should be revised every two years instead of five
* A panel with five members, including 3 of them, headed by Defence Minister to report within 30 days