OROP sans Re- Employment

On 30 November 2010 05:02, harwant singh wrote:
My dear Murugan,
Thanks for your mail. May be we are of the same generation. I was senior instructor at the College of Combat in 1977. I never attended management course. Infact AHQ stopped all courses for me. You see when I was on junior command course, 1962 war started and the course was terminated. When I was on staff course at Wellington, 1965 war started and the course was cut short and when I was on senior command course, 1971 war started and the course was terminated. After that QHQ quite wisely decided not to detail me on any course. So I have, some what, remained uneducated, from military’s point of view. Inspite of all this I did get a chance to be on the instructional staff of College of Combat and commanded the School of Armoured Warfare at Ahmednagar.

Now about pension being deferred wage, I don’t think it is really so! If it is a deferred wage then what it implies is that, a person is not paid his full wage and a part of it is held back to be paid later: when he stops working. Say if a person’s wage is X plus Y, then while he is working he is paid X part of his wage and Y part ( the deferred part ) is to be paid to him after he stops working. In other words he has already worked for and earned Y part. Then supposing immediately on leaving his job, he dies, then his wife should get the Y part! After all her husband had already worked for and earned the Y part of his wage. Then legally the wife must get what her husband has already earned and is his! But she gets only half of that ( half of Y.) While some court may have said that pension is a deferred wage, but it does not get stretched to its logical end and therefore, the ambiguity.

Now about the G I Bill. I am fully aware of the provisions of what is now the practice. Two children of a friend of mine availed this facility. One of then is a girl and now a doctor here in the U.S. Soon after the 5th CPC I wrote a few articles highlighting what all was being made available to the veterans and those in service in the U.S. as also in some other countries including Singapore.

There is no point taking any cue from the U.S. It has so happened that these last three years I have been in New York when the veteran’s parade is held. It is quite an event, the crowds that turn up at the parade, as veterans march/ride various types of vehicles down the Broadway and their interest in the veterans is some thing to be seen. The President flies down from Washington to address the veterans. You must have read President’s recent talk to the veterans in South Korea as also those in the U.S. and his wife’s talk to the families. Finally the President himself read the citation at the recent award of Congressional Medal of Honour to a serving soldier of the U.S. army.
The ceremony was held in the White house.

Now see what is going on in Delhi. Veterans are holding protest rallies at Jantar Mantar, where another two dozen organizations are doing the same. It is a sorry sight. I drove down from chandigarh to attend one of those sit down protests at Jantar Mantar. The President simply refuses to receive medals from the veterans and the signatures in blood are not acceptable because, merely looking at the papers with veteran’s blood on these, she might get infected! Troops can shed all the blood they want to, on the country’s borders and fighting insurgents, but don’t bring, even a drop of that infected blood, anywhere near the Rashtrapati Bhavan!( RB ).

Now speaking about RB. When I first went there to receive AVSM, I carried a saber (cavalry officers don’t carry a sword but instead a saber!) while in full ceremonial dress. The next I went there was to receive PVSM. But this time I could not carry the saber ( nor could anyone carry a sword including the three chiefs) Why no sword, while in full ceremonial dress and going before the supreme commander! Perhaps the intelligence agencies ruled against carrying a sword in President’s presence. Obviously as a safety measure! That is not all. I found that all those who were there to receive awards, including gallantry awards were being subjected to body search but not civilians. I made some noise and the remaining were simply ushered in without any body search. But the worst was to come.

In the Asoka Hall, where this ceremony is held, there were no reserved seats. I occupied a seat in the fourth/fifth row ( I have been a back bencher all my life! ) though there were large number of vacant seats in the front and second row. Mind you it was purely a military (all three services) function and ceremonial on top of it. The three service chiefs in their full ceremonial dress, (less their swords) along with their wives occupied seats in the front row.

Then some minor functionary of the President’s staff came and told the three service chiefs to move back to the second/third row. They giggled a bit and moved back to the second row! This happened in the full view of those who were there to receive awards and others from service headquarters. I have never felt more humiliated and had half a mind to tell the chiefs to stay put in the front row and tell the functionary to F-- off. I restrained myself and now whenever I recall that one incident I feel humiliated. This, sir, is India for you. So it is better to know our circumstances and not seek comparisons with the U.S. or any other country.

While it is possible to even demand the moon but the moon will remain that far away and well outside our reach, or what is said of wishes, horses and beggars. The Supreme Court has already told the Govt that the veterans are being made to beg.

I have had three tenures at AHQ, in fairly important positions, where one had to deal with bureaucracy in the MoD, Defence Finance and DRDO, almost on daily basis. So it is with reasonable experience of working with the Govt of India that I set my sights at what is POSSIBLY achievable.

You must have been tracing the progress of veteran’s cases in the Supreme Court and the tenacity with which the MoD is opposing all of these. After this only a congenital optimist can hope to get, both, the assured re-employment and the OROP, or for that matter Govt to undertake the commitment of training the veterans in various skills for employment with industry or self employment!

It is said that the battle of Waterloo was won on the play fields of Harrow. One could say that the 1962 war was lost in the portals of South Block. Perhaps the next war too, if it comes, would have been lost, again in South Block. (PMO too is in South block.)

Murugan, I am not a pessimist but may be a bit practical and somewhat of a realist. That is how I view the present struggle to get some thing for the veterans. Some of us seem to conclude that OROP is officer oriented. It only shows how little we know the details and the ground realities, as well as what else is possible. Some seem to have an elephant size ego. Some of us are pulling in different directions and all this militates against our common cause.

We need to close ranks, put end to discussions, as these seem to distract us from our efforts to get what some of us feel, is possible to get.
With regards and best wishes.
Harwant. (Lt Gen Harwant Singh, Former DCOAS)
Veteran Responses: click here