Soldiers protest pension anomaly, return medals

EX-SERVICEMEN DEMAND ONE RANK ONE PENSION
Devashree Mahajan / CNN-IBN
ON WARPATH: Veteran soldiers gathered in New Delhi on Sunday to protest government's apathy.
New Delhi: Retired defence services personnel held a protest in New Delhi demanding equal pension. The veteran soldiers are so tired with the government's apathy that they are marched to the Rashtrapati Bhavan to return their bravery medals to President Pratibha Devisingh Patil.
"With every pay commission the salaries and pension keeps going up. But they are not given to past pensioners," said Lieutenant General Raj Kadyan, chairman of the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement.
Lieutenant General (retired) Kadyan was just one of the many ex-servicemen present at the protest march angered at the pay disparity in the armed forces
And as a sign of protest, the pensioners parted with their most prized possession - the gallantry award presented to them for their bravery and selfless service.
It was done to demand the implementation of the "one rank one pension" scheme.
"This is what makes us feel frustrated. It is time we want to tell the government that enough is enough," said Wing Commander (retired) Chandrashekhar.
"I joined Navy and after that my son refused to join after seeing all this," said a former Navy official GS Beniwal.
The ex-servicemen, including all ranks from the armed forces took out a protest rally at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi and then collected their medals and sent it to the President.
"This is not for myself or for my wife or my son who was sacrificed for the nation. It is for my brothers," said Colonel (retired) Kanwal Bharadwaj, a Sena Medal winner whose son Captain Umang Bharadwaj fell to terrorists' bullets in Kashmir in 2002 and was posthumously awarded Shaurya Chakra.
The demand of the ex-servicemen is almost 25 years old but there is no conclusion in sight yet.
With elections round the corner, the officers are hoping the government will dissolve the disparity existing at various levels.
The ex-servicemen returned their medals to the President and pledged that they would not take them back till their demands are met. One rank one pension is what they had been demanding for a long time now.
Soldiers protest pension anomaly, return medals

Report from Mysore
Maj. Gen. Vombatkere pointed out that Defence personnel, who are under the Military Law, cannot have an association or a union for collective bargaining, but since the veterans are not under the law it becomes their bounden duty to highlight the injustices meted out to serving personnel as well. The demonstration will also serve to highlight the status and salary of the serving military personnel in comparison to their counterparts in the civil services.
Click here to read more: Demand for one rank one pension- Mysore