Time and again, successive governments have given assurances of implementing a proper one rank and one pension system as per the veterans demands but they have not got OROP which they asked for. When you will read their story, you will feel ashamed to call yourself Indian. We bring a detailed analysis of what OROP is and why it has not be implemented and still the lies have been spread that OROP has been given after 40 years. In the words of Rajnath Singh when he was giving the speech during the no confidence motion event, he said OROP was granted by the government and it was followed by a clap. May be Hon PM and RM are in the impression that they have provided OROP for the jawans but let us learn from a Retd Major(who has been fighting for veterans cause now from a long time) what exactly is OROP and that was not being given to the ex service man, many of them fought for us in wars of 62, 65 and 71. If it cannot be done now then when?

Major AK Dhanapalan (Rtd) writes the pain of an ex service man. They have been totally blacked by the media now(in order to make us believe that OROP has been granted) and they still are protesting at Jantar Mantar.

OROP – A Himalayan Blunder

( OROP to Veterans and Widows of the Indian Armed Forces and related issues )

Propaganda is being made in the media to create an impression that OROP has been given and all ESMs are happy with it. If so, it need to be explained:-

a) As to Why there are too many Court Cases?. And why from Sepoys to General Officers are to knock the doors of the Judiciary, if the Govt machinery as well as the Ex-servicemen organizations are functioning properly. ?

b) And why the Govt loose all the cases giving a direct indication that their approach is NOT correct . ?

c) But why the judgments are NOT being implemented?

d) And why, to save the face of certain crooked officials, the Govt is forced to appeal against these ex-servicemen in Supreme Court spending huge public money only to loose the cases again ? Is it NOT a conspiracy in the MOD officials to harass the poor jawans and claim huge amount towards TA/DA, engaging private advocates and other misc expenses apart from wasting office time of such officials . ? All at the cost of Ex-servicemen Welfare..!

e) Is it NOT demoralizing the Armed Forces Personnel as a whole apart from financial and social aspect being faced by them ?

An attempt is also being made to equate the Armed Forces with that of civilian central Govt employees. On One hand the Armed Forces Personnel are being equated with that of Civilian employees, but on the other hand certain privileges availed by the civilian employees are denied to the Armed Forces Personnel. For example, NFU being granted to Gp A Civilians are not extended to the Armed Forces in spite of Directions of the Courts. Cadre review (Promotions), Deputations, age for retirement, right to have unions etc are some of the examples.

If the Armed Forces personnel are to be treated at par with that of civilian employees on the basis of basic pay (allowances, status etc) other terms and conditions applicable to Civilian Employees should be equally applied to the AF Personnel.

Equation of pension calculation with that of civilian employees i.e. 50% of Pay last drawn suits only to those ESMs who retire on completion of 58/60 years of age.

This injustice has been done when the jawans are to retire at an early age when his basic pay is very very less compared to Civilian Employees who have number of years service ahead for more promotions and more Pay Commission benefits and reach a very higher pay and get higher pension. This amount is the basis for all considerations after retirement of a person whether it is DA, pay commission benefits etc., ESM community is in a very disadvantage state. If at all this 50% is to be applied, justice demand that their pay(with promotion, pay commission benefits etc) also to be notionally stepped up to make at par with the civilians who retire at the age of 60 yrs. OR ESM who are to be retire at a very early age should treated at par with the VRS OR to be treated as retrenched personnel eligible to get immediate available appointment in the Govt service without coming through PSC/Employment Exchanges OR there should be a separate package of pay . One reason being pushed is that weightage was given. This is absolutely do not carry any merit. Reason being

(a) No change in the calculation i.e. 50% of last pay drawn is given

(b) it is to compensate 33 years requirement which is not correct. 33 years was stipulated to civ employees whose retirement age is 58/60 years. Since the jawans are to retire at the age of 35-40 this requirement of 33 years cannot be stipulated. Hence the weightage was an eye-wash. The present retires only get 50% of the last pay drawn. They do not get compensation for the early retirement. No one seems to realize the tress and mental agony caused by such an early retirement and befooling them in the pension calculations.

In all fairness ex-servicemen deserve a fair deal and should have been given a “MEANINGFUL RESETTLEMENT PACKAGE” in addition to the pension for the sacrifices they made for the safety and integrity of the Country.

The One Rank One Pension (OROP) sanctioned by the Govt of India , Min of Def, Dept of EX-Servicemen Welfare Vide No.12(1)/2014/D/(Pen/Pol)-Part II dtd 7th Nov 2015, says which I quote “OROP implies that uniform pension be paid to the Defence Forces Personnel retiring in the same rank with same length of service, regardless of their date of retirement , which implies, bridging the gap between the rates of pension of current and past pensioners at periodic intervals.” Unquote. This is precisely what has been done by the 7th CPC in the case of Civilian Employees, where in only the method adopted is stepping up the pay notionally to bring them at par with those of 2016 employees and revise the pension, here also the intention is to bridge the gap between the current and past pensioners. In other words, both are one at the same. Although this order for Armed Forces has been named as OROP, but this has nothing to do with the OROP, and mischievously used to confuse the issue.

However the difference is that;-

the financial implication for implementing the OROP for Jawans after a great deal of discussion and committees for years, has come to a conclusion that it would be around Rs.8 to 10 thousand Crs .

This amount is said to be a great burden to the Govt and after a long debate decided to pay the arrears in 4 (four) installments.

Apart from that , anomalies in the order which was too many, to be referred to a committee which was required to submit its report within 6 months has not seen the light even today, after 2 years.

The anomalies are still existing and the payments as per 7th CPC could not be made to the ESMs in full so far.

All these actions were to create an impression that much more than what is deserving have been given to the Ex-servicemen .

On top of it, the statement made in public functions that “OROP has been granted at the cost of poor farmers”, is an insult to the Armed Forces Personnel.

On the contrary, in the case of civilian pensioners, the similar decision to bridge the gap between the current and past retires have been fully implemented , financial implication for this is estimated to be nearly Rs. One Lakh Cr and approved with just only 15 mts discussion. The Arrears were paid in full and NOT installments.

Not only such insult and down gradation has been made, but also an attempt is being made to project the OROP as the one meant to compensate for the early retirement. There is reason to believe that the H’ble Prime Minister and the RM are being misinformed to the extent that the OROP is the one which is intended to compensate for the early retirement and is as per the demand of the -Ex-servicemen since last 40 years and most of the ex-servicemen fraternity are happy with the present OROP. This may be the reason why every time the leaders proudly say that OROP which was pending for the past 40 years have now been given to our jawans. This is factually NOT correct and misleading. This is similar to the cheating of“ Rank Pay” case gtd in 1986, created by the MOD officials. In fact, not only the OROP has not been given but also The ex-servicemen as well as the General public are being fooled using wrong propaganda.

In this connection I must mention here the findings of the 142nd Report of the Rajya Sabha committee on petitions dt 19/11/2011, extract of which is given below:(Page 2)