All of last week, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar was busy meeting defence services veterans to address the vexed issue of one rank, one pay (Orop). On June 14, a demonstration planned by former soldiers at Jantar Mantar in Delhi brought home even more forcefully the need to implement this.
Last week, groups of ex-servicemen announced they would begin a relay hunger strike on Orop till the government actually announced it. The hunger strike will begin on Monday, June 15, and will continue every day, hoping to shame the government into making some announcement. The defence and finance ministries are in talks if they will be in a position to foot the bill, should other paramilitary services also ask for the same treatment. Some resolution is likely later this week.
Names of CVC, CIC to be made public
Now that the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, is back from his Sweden visit, the names of the Central Vigilance Commissioner and the Central Information Commissioner will be revealed. The decision to appoint these officials was delayed owing to the stand-off between the government and the opposition - the law says the opposition must be consulted in their appointment but the government refused to recognise the biggest opposition party as the leader of the opposition. The file has reached Rashtrapati Bhavan and the names - which everyone knows anyway - should be out on June 14 or 15.
Governors to be announced later this week
After the Budget session of Parliament was over, Home Minister Rajnath Singh promised governors would be appointed to nine states, as one incumbent is holding the charge of four, while five others are in-charge of at least two states each. This could be announced later this week.
There are vacancies in Raj Bhavans at Bihar, Punjab, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura and Telangana. The post of Lieutenant Governor in Puducherry is also vacant. West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi is holding additional charge of Bihar, Meghalaya and Mizoram, while Nagaland Governor Padmanabha Acharya is in-charge of the Raj Bhavans in Assam and Tripura.
Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki has been given additional charge of Punjab and administrator of Chandigarh, while Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh is holding additional charge of Himachal Pradesh. Uttarakhand Governor K K Paul is in-charge of the Raj Bhavan of Manipur, too. Narasimhan, who was governor of undivided Andhra Pradesh, continues to be the Governor of both Telangana and residuary Andhra Pradesh after the bifurcation, while Lieutenant governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands Lt Gen (retd) Ajay Kumar Singh is holding additional charge of Puducherry.
The Narendra Modi government, which assumed charge in May 2014, has appointed Governors to 11 states. They are Ram Naik (Uttar Pradesh), C Vidyasagar Rao (Maharashtra), P Sathasivam (Kerala), Vajubhai Vala (Karnataka), Om Prakash Kohli (Gujarat), Balram Das Tandon (Chhattisgarh), Mridula Sinha (Goa), Kalyan Singh (Rajasthan), Keshari Nath Tripathi (West Bengal), Kaptan Singh Solanki (Haryana) and Padmanabha Acharya (Nagaland).
