Ludhiana, Apr 29: The Ministry of Defence is in agreement with the principle of ‘One Rank One Pension' demand of the ex-servicemen, said Chief of Army staff General V K Singh today.
Addressing a rally of the ex-servicemen here, he said the implementation of the One Rank One Pension involved an expenditure of Rs 1300 crore.
He added that the implementation could not be made time bound as such decisions had to pass through several levels of the government before becoming a reality.
The government had, however, agreed to the demand, he added.
Gen Singh also said that he had introduced several plans to bridge the gap between the veterans and the serving army officials.
To sort out their demands he had set up a ‘Veteran Cell' in the Army two years ago.
He conceded that it was the duty of the Army to ensure that the rights of the ex-servicemen were taken care of.
Assuring the ex-servicemen “You will certainly get your rights and will not have to ask for it”, the Chief of Army staff said, 20 more centres would soon be set up in Punjab under the ex-servicemen contributory health scheme.
The army chief further said that he had written to the government to restore the old system of Canteen Store Departments (CSD) to the Army as the current system was not working to the satisfaction of the defence personnel.
Later talking to media persons, Gen Singh when asked about his letters to the Government on the issues of corruption and the inadequate stores in the armaments, Gen Singh said that the ball was now in the court of the government.
“I have done my duty, now it is for the government to act”, he added.
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