'One Rank, One Pension' brings fresh trouble for Centre

The veterans have threatened to go on an indefinite hunger strike if their demands are not met

It was in Feburary this year that Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had announced: "The principle of ''One Rank, One Pension' for the armed forces has been accepted by the government. The modalities for implementation have been discussed with various stakeholders and are currently under consideration of the government.”

Since then, the delayed attempt to implement this policy has agitated the Army veterans across the country.

The 'One Rank One Pension (OROP)' scheme claims to benefit around 2.2 million ex-servicemen and over 600,000 war widows.

The scheme will ensure that military personnel who retire at the same rank and have the same tenure of service will receive equal pension, even if their retirement dates differ. The scheme promises to bridge the rising disparity in the pension amount of retiring officers which has increased substantially after the Sixth Pay Commission became functional. According to military personnel their work lives cannot be compared to any other service and the short duration of their service makes it necessary for OROP to be implemented. 

Hundreds of former military servicemen held demonstrations at various locations across the country, including at Jantar Mantar in the capital on Sunday, demanding prompt implementation of OROP. They have threatened to launch an indefinite hunger strike and a nationwide protest from Monday if the government fails to take immediate steps towards fulfilling its OROP promise. The scheme was one of the Modi government’s glorified electoral promises. This has further angered the veterans, who have blamed the Centre, politicians and bureaucrats for the delay.

The Modi government, especially the defence ministry, has been vocal about fulfilling the OROP promise from the very beginning of its tenure. But, with the Modi government completing a year and the issue being neglected at the prime minister's Mathura rally to commemorate a year in office, have left the veterans doubtful of this government’s sincerity towards this issue.

The veterans have now decided to seek President Pranab Mukherjee’s assistance. In fact, the agitation began after a series of talks between ex-servicemen and the defence minister failed and the former decided to go forward with their rally held on June 14 as the government failed to come up with a specific date for the implementation of OROP.

The OROP scheme has been a contentious issue between retired defence personnel and the government for long. The previous government had also faced agitation from army men from time to time. What intensified the issue this time are constant public declarations regarding fulfilment of this scheme by Narendra Modi himself. However, Modi in his radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat' reiterated in  May his government's support towards OROP, and expressed the complexities in the conception of the scheme needed to be worked out to ensure its proper implementation.

Parrikar, in a statement made from Jaipur, has asked the veterans to keep ‘patience’ and faith in the government. He had recently commented on the Myanmar operation by the Indian Army as a brave one highlighting India’s ‘zero-tolerance policy’ on terror. The irony lies in the fact that at a time when the Indian Army's importance and efficiency are being highlighted by many sections of the media and the government, the former military community has openly expressed its disillusionment and disappointment with the Modi army, referring to itself as scapegoats of vote-bank politics.