Rahul Gandhi questions Defence Ministry officials on OROP revision at parliamentary panel meet

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday questioned top officials of the Ministry of Defence on the pending review of One Rank One Pension (OROP) during a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence.

The ministry officials informed the panel that there are certain issues to be fixed. A committee has been constituted to look into these, and a review will be held once the committee submits its report, sources said.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, chaired by senior BJP leader Jual Oram, held a cordial meeting on Friday, a day after a "stormy" session and a war of words between the chairman and Gandhi.

On Thursday, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, top officials from the three armed forces and Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar deposed before the panel. The meeting witnessed an argument between Oram and Gandhi when the Congress leader asked some specific questions to the officials, which the chairman felt was not on the agenda of the meeting, sources had said.

Last year in June, the Defence Ministry had formed a committee to work out the modalities for the revision of OROP.