Protesting delay in the implementation of the “One Rank, One Pension” (OROP) policy, hundreds of ex-servicemen took to the streets across the country on Sunday and demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi to fulfil his promise made a year ago.
The former soldiers sought the intervention of President Pranab Mukherjee and threatened to go on a relay hunger strike from Monday. Protests were also held in Punjab, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and other states. The protests started after talks – both formal and backchannel – with the government failed as the ex-servicemen were not given a specific timeline for the implementation of the long-pending OROP.
In Jaipur, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar sought to assuage their concerns, saying the promises made will be kept and that they should be “patient”.
Close to 22 lakh ex-servicemen and over six lakh war widows stand to be the immediate beneficiaries of the scheme which envisages uniform pension for the defence personnel retiring in the same rank with the same length of service, irrespective of their date of retirement.
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