Former HC judge to head OROP panel

The government has appointed Justice (retd) L Narasimha Reddy, former Chief Justice of the Patna High Court, to head a judicial panel to look into the implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme for ex-servicemen.

The committee has been given six months to submit its recommendation. Announcing the OROP package in September, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar announced setting up of the panel to oversee the disbursement process and to deal with any unforeseen administrative problems that may crop up.

The terms of reference for the Reddy committee is to examine and make recommendations on the references received from the central government on issues, according to a defence ministry statement.

These include measures for the removal of anomalies that may arise in the implementation of the OROP as notified by the government on November 7. Another task is to look into the inter-service anomalies, if there are any.

The veterans raised seven objections on the notification. “We reject the notification (on the formation of the Reddy commission). The first paragraph of the panel notification says it will consider government references,” pointed out the protesting veterans, suggesting that they have been given little scope to place their views.