Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday announced that the government has decided to implement the much awaited One Rank, One Pension (OROP) scheme and its benefit would be given to all ex-servicemen, excluding voluntary retirees from July 1, 2014.
"The government has taken the decision to implement the OROP. Under the OROP scheme the benefit would be given from July 1, 2014. The base year would be 2013," said Parrikar at the press conference.
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"The gap between the rate of pension of current pensioners and past pensioners will be breached every five years. Arrears would be paid in four half-yearly instalments," he added.
"All widows, including war widows, will be paid arrears in one instalment. OROP would be fixed on the basis of calendar year 2013. Pension will be fixed for all pensioners retiring in the same rank with the same length of service as the average of minimum and maximum pension in 2013," he said.
"Personnel, who voluntarily retired would not be covered under the OROP scheme. In future, the pension would be fixed every five years," he further said.
"It is estimated that the expenditure on arrears alone would be Rs.10000 to 12000 crores," he said.
