Three months after veterans hit the streets in a high-pitched public protest and two years after Narendra Modi promised it in his very first address as a prime ministerial candidate, the government has announced its acceptance of the One Rank One Pension OROP ) scheme, specifying that it would disburse an additional Rs 8,000 crore to Rs 10,000 crore to ex-servicemen in recognition of their exceptional working conditions. In addition, arrears worth Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 12,000 crore will also be paid by the government.With days to go before the announcement of the Bihar polls, after which the model code of conduct will apply, defence minister Manohar Parrikar said that the issue of OROP has been approved by Modi and the government would shortly issue a detailed order. The government at present spends Rs 56,000 crore on pensions for over 24 lakh ex-servicemen.While Parrikar made no mention of veterans who have been on hunger strike since June, the minister said that the contribution of the military and its veterans has been immeasurable. “Now that the OROP matter is hopefully behind us, I appeal to veterans to continue their vital task of nation-building and development,” the minister said in a short statement at South Block, refusing to take any questions on the issue.The minister also took potshots at the UPA, pointing out that the previous government had allocated “only Rs 500 crore” for the scheme. “The issue of OROP has been pending for nearly four decades; it is a matter of deep anguish that successive governments remained ambivalent to the issue. In February 2014, the then government claimed OROP will be implemented but did not specify what it means and what it will cost. An estimated Rs 500 crore allocated then was not based on any thorough analysis,” Parrikar said.Sources said that the government announcement shows that it has not budged much from its stance ever since the protest started in June. Contentious points — annual revisions, date of implementation and the base year — have not been diluted much beyond the finance ministry position.Parrikar said that the government has decided to implement OROP with effect from July 2014, when it presented it first budget and that the base year for calculating pension parity would be 2013. The minister also specified that the revision would take place once every five years.Arrears with respect to the implementation date of July 2014 would be paid to veterans in four half-yearly instalments while widows will get the full benefit at once. OROP would not apply to personnel retiring early, a point that could turn out to be most contentious for veterans.The OROP announcement comes after three weeks of hectic negotiations between veteran organisations and the government; both sides struggled to get to a common meeting point. From the government, top officials from the PMO, including NSA Ajit Doval, were involved in talks as the defence and finance ministry remained deadlocked on the issue.The big grievance of veterans is that since Independence pensions for ex-servicemen have been diluted by successive governments.