<p>Congress on Saturday termed the government’s one-rank-one-pension scheme a “betrayal” as it has substantially watered down UPA’s version. <br /><br />The opposition fielded former Defence Minister A K Antony to counter his successor Manohar Parrikar’s charges that the UPA allotted a mere Rs 500 crore without doing its homework. <br /><br />Antony, now a Rajya Sabha member, accused the government of doing politics over OROP by substantially diluting its provisions and ridiculing ex-servicemen. <br /><br />He criticised the government move to exclude army personnel who opted for voluntary retirement from OROP, saying 46 per cent of them take premature retirement. <br /><br />He also reminded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise that he would implement OROP in toto in 100 days of coming to power. <br /><br />“During the UPA term, we increased ex-servicemen’s pension three times. No other government has raised the pensions so substantially. UPA government was sincere to the ex-servicemen’s cause,” Antony said, expressing disappointment over the government’s announcement on OROP. <br /><br />Baffled by Parrikar’s claims that the NDA government is accepting OROP for the first time, Antony said: “I do not know what language to use. We had already accepted OROP in toto and were in the process of implementing it.” <br /><br />The former Defence Minister said he convened a meeting to demand more money after the UPA government announced the initial investment of Rs 500 in its budget. He said an expert committee was constituted to assess the financial impact of implementing OROP in full. </p>.<p><br />While announcing OROP, Parrikar said the UPA did not specify "what OROP would be, how it would be implemented or how much it would cost.” <br /><br />“The estimated Rs 500 crore provided for OROP in the February 2014 budget was not based on any thorough analysis,” Parrikar said. <br /><br />Former Union minister Kapil Sibal said Congress is against the idea to revise pension once in five years. <br /><br />Asked if the government’s announcement would prompt other central security forces to make similar demands, Sibal said his party would react after the Prime Minister makes his stand clear. <br /></p>
<p>Congress on Saturday termed the government’s one-rank-one-pension scheme a “betrayal” as it has substantially watered down UPA’s version. <br /><br />The opposition fielded former Defence Minister A K Antony to counter his successor Manohar Parrikar’s charges that the UPA allotted a mere Rs 500 crore without doing its homework. <br /><br />Antony, now a Rajya Sabha member, accused the government of doing politics over OROP by substantially diluting its provisions and ridiculing ex-servicemen. <br /><br />He criticised the government move to exclude army personnel who opted for voluntary retirement from OROP, saying 46 per cent of them take premature retirement. <br /><br />He also reminded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise that he would implement OROP in toto in 100 days of coming to power. <br /><br />“During the UPA term, we increased ex-servicemen’s pension three times. No other government has raised the pensions so substantially. UPA government was sincere to the ex-servicemen’s cause,” Antony said, expressing disappointment over the government’s announcement on OROP. <br /><br />Baffled by Parrikar’s claims that the NDA government is accepting OROP for the first time, Antony said: “I do not know what language to use. We had already accepted OROP in toto and were in the process of implementing it.” <br /><br />The former Defence Minister said he convened a meeting to demand more money after the UPA government announced the initial investment of Rs 500 in its budget. He said an expert committee was constituted to assess the financial impact of implementing OROP in full. </p>.<p><br />While announcing OROP, Parrikar said the UPA did not specify "what OROP would be, how it would be implemented or how much it would cost.” <br /><br />“The estimated Rs 500 crore provided for OROP in the February 2014 budget was not based on any thorough analysis,” Parrikar said. <br /><br />Former Union minister Kapil Sibal said Congress is against the idea to revise pension once in five years. <br /><br />Asked if the government’s announcement would prompt other central security forces to make similar demands, Sibal said his party would react after the Prime Minister makes his stand clear. <br /></p>
