Expressing concern over the delay in implementing the much awaited ‘One Rank, One Pension’ (OROP) scheme for veterans, four former Services chiefs in a letter to President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday said it poses a danger to political military ethos of the country and sought his intervention.
“It is with a sense of deep anguish that we are writing to draw the attention of the Supreme Commander to the dismal spectacle of our veteran soldiers, driven to undertake public protests and demonstrations to press their demand for the long overdue grant of OROP,” said the letter written by General SF Rodrigues, Admiral l Ramdas, Admiral Arun Prakash and Admiral Sureesh Mehta. They said the denial of OROP is merely the last straw that has exhausted the veterans’ patience.
The open letter said it appears to be the culmination of a process by which successive Pay Commissions have been used to whittle down the financial and protocol status of the military over the years vis-à-vis their civilian counterparts. The letter also said the decline in the status of military in India “has been orchestrated” to make it “subservient to the bureaucracy.”
The former chiefs said there does not seem to be adequate realisation that this development “has the potential for inflicting long-term damage to India’s proud and a-political military ethos.” No one in the political or bureaucratic establishments seems to have recognized that veterans retain a strong umbilical connection with serving personnel because the two constitute one extended family, it said.
Referring to the on-going protests by ex-servicemen at Jantar Mantar, the former Chiefs said anything which denigrates or humiliates the veteran also hurts the self-esteem of the serving soldier — because he sees himself as tomorrow’s veteran, the four retired chiefs said.
They said since no administration has deemed it appropriate to convey the actual reason for the interminable delays, there is a growing feeling in the rank and file that the senior armed forces leadership has not done enough to pursue their cause.” An erosion of confidence such as this could inflict severe damage on the officer-jawan relationship. This is a sacred trust, built on a 350-year old tradition, which we will find very difficult to rebuild,” it said.