The verbal dual between BJP and Congress over One Rank
One Pension (OROP) continued on Saturday with senior Congress leader and
former Defence Minister A.K. Antony taking on Prime Minister Narendra
Modi over the delay in implementation of the scheme even as Mr. Modi
reiterated his commitment for OROP earlier in the day.
“The
Govt is committed to OROP & there's no doubt about it,” Mr. Modi
tweeted on Saturday amidst growing criticism over the delay in OROP.
Responding
later in the day, Mr. Antony said the government failed to implement
UPA’s decision. “Either he [PM Modi] is unaware of facts or he is
misleading the nation in order to cover up his government’s failure to
implement the UPA decision on ‘One Rank, One Pension,” he said.
Mr.
Modi also said in an interview that there are a number of definitions
of OROP and the government is working to find one. But in general the
definition given by the Parliamentary Committee headed by Bhagat Singh
Koshiyary in 2011 had been accepted by the government and the
Parliament.
The last week saw major expressions of
displeasure by ex-servicemen over the delay in the implementation of the
scheme which was promised by BJP in its election manifesto and cleared
in-principle by the government. Two Air Force veterans of the 1971 war
refused to attend a function in Pune where they were to be felicitated
by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.
Mr. Parrikar on
Friday said that OROP was “on its way” but refused to give a specific
time. “Two or three steps remain so can't give you a specific time but
it is on its way,” he said and added: “There cannot be a date for OROP
as it involves various departments.”
OROP seeks to
bring parity among personnel retiring with the same rank and same
duration irrespective of when they retire and will benefit about two and
half million ex-servicemen.
