Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 15
Upping their ante against the Central Government, retired veterans of
the forces today started a countrywide relay hunger strike while
threatening to hold rallies in poll-bound Bihar over the delay in
implementation of the ‘One Rank, One Pension’. Col Anil Kaul (retd), media advisor to the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement (IESM), said: “We will hold our next ‘maha sangram’ rally in Bihar. We will continue our protest till our promised OROP is not given to us.” The Assembly elections in Bihar are likely in September or October this year. The BJP faces a tough fight against the combine of Janata Dal-United and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, which is likely to have a poll pact with the Congress in the state.
Besides Bihar, the veterans think they are a strong constituency also in Punjab where the Assembly elections are slated in February 2017.
The Modi government has said it is committed to OROP, a key promise made during the run-up to the May 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
It has, however, not implemented it till now. IESM Chairman Maj Gen Satbir Singh (Retd) said: “The question is about honoring the assurances and so far those have been not implemented on the ground. That’s why we feel the government has not lived up to what they promised us.”
Even though the government has said it is committed to implementing OROP, there has been no official word on why the scheme is getting delayed.
Sources said the OROP file is with the Finance Ministry for a final budgetary approval and it will take some more time. Politically, the government wants to contain the fallout of soldiers protesting and it getting televised live on TV. Wearing black bands to mark the protest, the former servicemen, who gathered at Jantar Mantar in the national capital, raised slogans deriding the government for bringing the soldiers to the streets.
Various ex-servicemen associations have united under one banner and have vowed to continue with the hunger strike till the time the government does not implement the OROP.
The retired veterans have had five meetings with Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and one meeting with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and the deadlock continues.
Maj Gen Satbir Singh said “We asked them to implement it in two months. It is difficult to understand why they are not specifying any date. What problems do they have?
The Defence Minister said they will have to spend Rs.8,300 crore. Don’t they have that amount also,” he asked.
The retired military personnel have sought time to meet President Pranab Mukherjee, who is the Supreme commander of the forces.
The OROP scheme has been a contentious issue between retired defence personnel and the government for long.
The OROP scheme claims to benefit around 22 lakh ex-servicemen and over 600,000 war widows.
The scheme will ensure that military personnel who retire at the same rank and have the same tenure of service will receive equal pension, even if their retirement dates differ.
