New Delhi: In a historic decision, the Narendra Modi government has announced the implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme for ex-servicemen.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to implement OROP during 2014 Lok Sabha campaign. The Army veterans launched protest after the Modi govt failed to implement OROP even after a year of its rule. The govt announced the decision to implement after the protest of Ex-servicemen entered 82nd day.
Here are 10 important points that will give you an overview of this scheme:
1) One Rank, One Pension reform simply means same pension, for same rank and for the same length of service, irrespective of the date of retirement. In other words it would allow the personnel who retired even in 1990 receive the same pension as a personnel retiring in 2015 serving the same number of years in the army.
2) OROP existed till 1973 only to be scrapped by Indira Gandhi government in the wake of third pay commission. The termination caused disquiet in the armed forces which later became a cause of public protests by veterans.
3) This issue gained more prominence after the implementation of Sixth Pay commission as that created huge difference in amount received by persons. Even the juniors started receiving more pension than the seniors who retired a few years back.
4) After series of protests by the Ex Servicemen Association, the UPA government towards its fag end agreed in principle to clear the scheme in 2013.
5) OROP was one of the key promises made by Prime Minister Narenrda Modi when he was campaigning for last year's national election. Huge support was generated among forces towards BJP for the elections. The ex-armymen were hugely disappointed after the BJP led govt announced a budget amount of 1000 cr.
6) On 9 sep, 2008, The Supreme Court directed the government to follow a 'One Rank, One Pension' principle for retired servicemen. In February this year, the court said failure to implement it within three months would mean contempt of court.
7) A 2011 report of a committee headed by BJP MP Bhagat Singh Koshyari recommended OROP. The committee unanimously found merit in OROP and strongly recommended that Government should implement OROP in the defence forces across the board at the earliest.
8) The government is ready with a draft proposal that lays out Rs. 8,000-10,000 crore a year for OROP. With the current proposal, the lowest-ranked retired jawans will get a pension hike of at least 3,500 to 4,500 a month
9) The OROP will be effective by 1 july 2014 with arrears. The first pension under OROP will be fixed keeping 2013 as the base year
10) The implementation of the scheme is expected to benefit 600,000 widows and a large number of decorated soldiers, who truly deserve to be treated with utmost dignity. Widows will get arrears in lump-sum , others will be paid in four half-yearly instalments.
