Religious Demography of India

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Hitchhiker's Guide to Rajiv Malhotra's Works: Kanchi seer Mahaperiyavaa foresaw many decades ago...: The following extract is taken from the book The Vedas by Kanchi seer Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati which can be found here . The trans...

‘The Neglect of Modern Indian Military History and its Impact on our Str...

Navi Mumbai Indian Armed Forces Retirees to organise OROP Ekta rally on 31 Oct 2015

ONE RANK ONE PENSION – #OROP

Agitation at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi and various other places in the country, by it’s veterans in demand for the implementation of OROP and yet many of us don’t even know what it is all about.

OROP was the basis for determining the pension and benefits of the Indian Armed Forces till 1973, when it was terminated by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) under the tenure of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. It ensured same pension, for the same rank, for the same length of service, irrespective of the date of retirement.  But it all changed that year, with not only the termination of OROP, but also a drastic decrease in the pension of the soldiers of the Indian Armed Forces from 70 percent, to just 37 percent of the last pay drawn. Against the background of the demand of the veterans to implement the OROP for four decades, the UPA Government in 2008 under the leadership of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, disregarded their plea, and rather granted OROP to the present and future civil servants, in perpetuity, at the apex pay grade (Rs 80,000), the highest pay grade in the government, at which a majority of the central civil services of the Indian Government retire. It included civilian officers in the MOD, responsible for providing secretarial, logistic, and rear area services to the Armed Forces. In contrast, only a fraction of one percent of the Armed Forces officers was provided coverage under the scheme.

In May 2014, the Indian National Congress (INC) led UPA Government was replaced by the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) led NDA Government. Both the parties, had on several occasions committed to implement OROP. It was an integral part of the election manifestos of both the INC and BJP. The current Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was then the PM candidate from BJP, had made Armed Forces issues, including the implementation of OROP, an election rallying call. All this was done to garner the support of the Armed Forces and the veterans.

Ever since assuming office, the BJP leadership has continued to make pledges and promised in support of OROP, but no actual decisions have been made and it hasn’t been implemented yet. This led to the veterans starting nationwide protests on 15 June 2015. On 5 Sep 2015, after 83 days of public protest, which included hunger strike and assault by Delhi Police on the protesting veterans, the NDA Government announced, unilaterally, the implementation of the ‘OROP Scheme for Armed Forces’. However, it was greeted with dismay and disappointment. The veterans have denounced the ‘OROP-2015’, saying that it is not the correct version of OROP, and hence, unacceptable. The protest is still going on, and has garnered a larger support ever since.

REASONS WHY THE VETERANS ARE UNHAPPY WITH THE CURRENT FORMAT OF OROP AS ANNOUNCED BY THE DEFENCE MINISTER

1. Base year for implementation of OROP was decided to be FY 2013-14, but in the announcement it was changed to calendar year 2013. This will completely ruin the definition of OROP by creating a divide between pensioners’ past and present, destroying the soul of OROP.
2. Date of implementation agreed to was 01 Apr 2014, which has been pushed forward to 01 Jul 2014. This will benefit the govt. by 2100 crore rupees and a loss to the Ex-Service Men (ESM) by the same amount.
3. Rationalization of pensions being insisted upon by the govt. is once in five years instead of annually. This will destroy the complete definition of OROP. This step will make it One Rank Five Pensions instead of One Rank One Pension.
4. The government has approved a one-man judicial commission to study the anomalies and make recommendations. United Front Ex Servicemen Movement (UFESM) does not accept a one man commission and instead demands a five member commission composed of three Ex-servicemen, one serving officer and one bureaucrat.
5. The government has created avoidable confusion by including VRS (Voluntary Retirement Scheme) in its announcement. However, VRS does not exist in Armed Forces, but in Civil Service and Public Sector Units with surplus manpower. This move of the government is against the law, and if forced, we hold the right to exercise the legal option in the Honorable Supreme Court of India, where we thank Mr Ram Jethmalani as he has agreed to represent our case.
6. The government has proposed the fixation of pension as the mean average of the pay band instead of the top level (as decided earlier). This defeats the basic ethos of a structured and a hierarchical organization.
7. The veterans demand that the OROP be independent of the Central Pay Commission (CPC) and the concept should be in perpetuity. This is because, once adopted by the Parliament, No CPC or any other such commission has the authority to adjudicate.

NOTE: Points 1-4 were the only points discussed between the veterans and the government representatives, till as late as 1130 hrs, 05 Sep 2015, the day of the announcement of the government’s proposal for OROP. Points 5-7 were never, at any point of time, discussed with the veterans by the government representatives, till announced at 1430 hrs, 05 Sep 2015. Inclusion of these points came as a complete surprise to the Ex-servicemen.

The Government claims to have announced an expense of Rupees 10,000 crore for OROP. With the restrictions being suggested, it will be spending only 3000 to 4000 crores. This will amount to cheating the Armed Forces personnel and their families of 6000 to 7000 crore rupees. The Honorable Prime Minister claims that OROP will be funded by cutting funds from poor people. This is just misinformation being spread to defame the Ex-servicemen.

PROTEST AT JANTAR MANTAR, NEW DELHI

On 15 June 2015, Ex-servicemen commenced nationwide protests and hunger strikes against the BJP led government for their failure to implement the true version of OROP. The biggest agitation is being help at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi. Veterans, families and friends have come from all over the country to protest. Our veterans have been sitting on hunger strikes. Lately, even the women and children have joined in. There are groups of veterans from a single regiment who are visiting Jantar Mantar and sitting on relay hunger strike. A major reason for this protest was the spreading of falsified information about OROP by the media. Later, the media boycotted the movement, which is disheartening to see, for it is these veterans who gave us the freedom to exercise our right to free speech and journalism. Owing to this, the veterans and their families have taken to social media, to let the country know about the real issue and how the government is shying away from its duties.

ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Since the big media houses have boycotted OROP or otherwise have been showing falsified information, our Social Media team has taken the onus on itself to make our voices reach to the masses. The social media team is actively participating on every platform for the cause. Today, where there is media, there is also social media. Everyone carries a smart phone or uses a computer. The youth stays connected and updated via social media. Hence we take help of this platform to let the country know of what is our right!

30 minutes: What is One Rank One Pension and why our soldiers truly deserve it

Editor’s Take – OROP Priority For PM Modi Or Not ?