“Our soldiers are our pride and honour; ‘One Rank One Pension’, which was pending for the last 40 years, has been implemented by us,” Goyal stated during his Budget speech. “Our soldiers are our pride and honour; ‘One Rank One Pension’, which was pending for the last 40 years, has been implemented by us,” Goyal stated during his Budget speech.

Finance Minister Piyush Goyal increased defence budget to over Rs 3 lakh cr for the financial year 2019-20 in the budget presented in Lok Sabha on Friday. “Our defence budget will be crossing Rs 3,00,000 crore for the first time in 2019-20. For securing our borders and to maintain preparedness of the highest order, if necessary, additional funds would be provided,” Goyal said during his Budget speech today.

The hike was of around Rs 20,000 crore as against the allocation of Rs 2.85 lakh crore in the current fiscal.

Follow LIVE UPDATES on the Union Budget 2019 in English | Bangla | Malayalam| Tamil

Taking pot shots at the Congress, Goyal termed ‘One Rank One Pension’ as a longstanding demand of Indian armed forces for the past 40 years and said the Centre has managed to disburse Rs 35,000 crore to veterans so far. Further, Goyal announced a substantial hike in military service pay and said special allowances were given to naval and air force personnel deployed in high-risk duties.

“The previous governments announced it in three budgets but sanctioned a mere Rs 500 crore in 2014-15 interim budget. In contrast we have already disbursed over Rs 35,000 crore after implementing the scheme in its true spirit,” Goyal stated during his Budget speech.

The acting finance minister further, promised to provide additional funds for defence if and when needed.

OROP for military veterans was one of the first public promises made by Narendra Modi in September 2013 after being declared the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate. Following Modi’s announcement in 2013, the UPA government allotted Rs 500 crore for OROP in the interim budget in 2014.

Simply put, OROP means that every soldier who retires in the same rank gets the same pension, irrespective of his date of retirement.

📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines

For all the latest Business News, download Indian Express App.

© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd