One Rank One Pension will it get the Parliament nod

One-Rank-One-Pension for Ex-Soldiers Likely to be Implemented
By Odisha 360 News Bureau
Bhubaneswar: The Parliament Committee of Petitions constituted under the Cabinet Secretary is likely to favour the long pending demand of ‘one-rank-one-pension’ (OROP) scheme for retired defence personnel.

With this move as many as 2.5 million retired soldiers, who have been running since long will be benefitted by this scheme.

Earlier the Defence Ministry had cleared that it would not be able to meet the ‘One Rank-One Pension’ demand of ex-servicemen due to administrative, financial and legal implications. Following this, thousands of ex-servicemen and war veterans had returned their gallantry medals.

Sources said, the scheme was finally supported as the Parliament Committee of Petitions has been considering the petition submitted by MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar and 24 others in October 2010, where in they had argued that the demands of the ex-servicemen may be considered on the lines of the pension for MP’s, which is Rs 20,000 for all first-timers.

In 2009, based on the recommendation of the committee headed by Cabinet Secretary on ‘one rank-one pension’ (OROP), the Government had decided to substantially improve the pension of pre-January one, 2006 defence pensioners below officer rank and bring pre-October 10, 1997 pensioners on par with post- October 10, 1997 pensioners.
OROP tabled in Parliament

Dear Colleagues,
The Rajya Sabha Petitions Committee has presented its report to the Parliament today. They have thus met their deadline of presenting it during the Winter Session.
The Committee’s report defines OROP exactly as the IESM has been doing:
“…OROP implies that uniform pension be paid to the Armed Forces Personnel retiring in the same rank with the same length of service irrespective of their date of retirement and any future enhancement in the rates of pension to be automatically passed on to the past pensioners…”
The 14-page report makes a strong case in favour of grant of OROP. Depositing of medals has been specially cited as one of the reasons in support of their recommendation. The report has included all the points we had made during our PP Presentation to the Committee on 16 May 2012. I telephonically thanked the Committee Chairman Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari on behalf of the IESM.
It is fervently hoped that the government will show grace and good sense to accept the recommendations.
Best regards,
Lt Gen Raj Kadyan
Chairman IESM
PS
I tried attaching the report but the size is too large. I am therefore re-sending the sitrep without the report.