OROP: Govt Has Still Not Got it Right, Veterans to Return Medals

NEW DELHI: It never rains but pours. And after the Bihar debacle the government is now grappling with the ex-servicemen stir over One Rank, One Pension with the veterans having decided to start returning their medals in protest against a “lame duck” notification.

The 148 days stir, that has continued at Jantar Mantar even though the media had turned off the spotlights for a while now, is now being intensified with the ex-servicemen having rejected the OROP notification that, according to them, is lopsided, and totally inadequate.

"The notification that the government has issued completely murders the definition of OROP. In OROP's definition, a senior will never get less pension than a junior. In the government's notification, a senior got less pension than a junior. We reject this completely," Group Captain V K Gandhi (retd), general secretary of Indian Ex-servicemen Movement ( IESM) told ANI.

"Mahatma Gandhi had started the 'Quit India' movement in 1942 and awaken the nation. We will take that example and awaken the nation and the ex-servicemen and request them to return their medals and explain to citizens that OROP has not been given to us," he added. Earlier the veterans had welcomed the move by writers, artists and others to return their awards in protest against the growing intolerance in the government as a Gandhian form of protest.

Gandhi said that the medals will be returned outside Terminal 1 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport ( IGIA) on Tuesday to educate the common man about the impending issue."Manohar Parrikar is speaking like this under the pressure of some bureaucrats. Our only demand is One Rank One Pension. Our request to Manohar Parrikar, Modi ji and Jaitley is to fulfil our demand, and no condition should be imposed on it," he said to ANI.

Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar was critical of the decision saying that the ex-servicemen were taking matters too far. He told reporters, “we have fulfilled the main one rank one pension demand including the Voluntary Retirement Scheme. This is a democracy and one has the right to put forth their demand, but they can't expect it to be fulfilled every time. You fulfil one demand and another one springs up."

Major General (Retd.) P.K. Sehgal told agencies that the Minister’s remark was insensitive and arrogant. "The previous Parliament of India has accepted the definition of One Rank, One Pension. Now, what you are giving is not what we have been demanding. You are giving One Rank, Five Pensions. The Supreme Court has categorically stated that no junior would ever be allowed to get pension or a salary higher than that of a senior.”

Explaining the reservations of the veterans General Sehgal said, "If implemented the way it has been announced, at least 50 percent of the juniors will get pensions higher than that of the seniors which is contrary to the judgment of the Supreme Court and contrary to the principles of the natural law. Nowhere in the world is this accepted.”