Government to Declare One Rank One Pension Today: Sources

Cheat Sheet | Reported by Sudhi Ranjan Sen, Edited by Mala Das | Updated: September 05, 2015 13:05 IST

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Ex-servicemen on an indefinite hunger strike over non-implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP) at New Delhi's Jantar Mantar (Press Trust of India photo)

New Delhi:  The government is likely to announce the implementation of the long-awaited One Rank One Pension or OROP today, sources have said. Protesting veterans, who met Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today, have said that they will make their next course of action known after that meeting.

Here are the latest developments:

1. The government, sources say, has accepted 98 per cent of the demands made by ex-servicemen. But it will stick to its offer of a revision of pension every five years and not the one, or maximum two years as demanded by the veterans, sources say, adding it is willing to examine that demand.
2. That is not acceptable, the veterans today said at a press conference, as are reported plans to exclude ex-servicemen who had opted for premature retirement from OROP benefits. "This will be only called as OROP only when it's applied to all," said Major Gen (retd.) Satbir Singh.
3. "Our main proposal is that a senior should not get pension less than a junior. We will wait for full plan of government and then come with a calibrated response," he said.
4. The veterans leading the OROP protests at Jantar Mantar in Delhi - which has entered its 84th day - had earlier said that the government's move to announce OROP was "unilateral" and had announced plans for a protest rally in Delhi on September 12.
5. Explaining the delay in implementing OROP, top sources told NDTV that the Koshiyari committee - set up by the Congress-led UPA government to examine the issue - had recommended about Rs 1,500 crore for the scheme. But a re-look by the NDA government threw up a much higher figure - over Rs 8,000 crore. "Getting consensus from all stakeholders took some time," a top source told NDTV.
6. Top sources said the government was willing to accept the veterans' demand that OROP be effective from July 1, 2014, with arrears. The government is considering paying arrears in four installments, the sources said.
7. The lowest-ranking retired jawans, widows and the disabled are likely to accrue the maximum benefit from the announcement, sources say. Widows and ex-servicemen over 70 are likely to be paid first. With the current proposal, jawans will get a pension hike of at least 3,500 to 4,500 a month, say sources.
8. Since there are many cases of veterans of the same rank earning different pensions, the government proposes to take the average of the maximum and minimum pension paid per rank, while protecting those who earn above average pensions in their rank.
9. The veterans and the government have been involved in negotiations for months now. The Prime Minister's Office stepped in last month after the strike escalated into a hunger-strike.
1. OROP was a key promise made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he was campaigning for last year's national election. OROP will give the same pension to ex-servicemen who retired many years ago as that which soldiers of the same rank retiring now draw. The scheme will benefit three million veterans

source-http://www.ndtv.com/cheat-sheet/government-to-declare-one-rank-one-pension-today-say-sources-1214481