Live
- Revanth assures Kurma community of its due
- 204 cadets pass out of AFA
- Youngest chess king wins laurels for India
- FairPoint: Rahul’s rhetoric falls flat as PM Modi steals spotlight
- Notice issued to SGPC chief Dhami
- PM Surya Ghar scheme set to surpass a decade’s installation growth in a year
- Centre should probe Soros-Gandhis nexus
- Student held, released after counselling
- Thousands witness Sagara Harathi
- Devotees participate in Kalasa Jyothi procession
Ex-Service Men Insulted-'OROP' Scheme Neglected
Highlights
“A king loses all his ethical rights to rule the country, when his soldier is forced to fight for his allowances” said Chanakya(Kautilya) to his king Chandra Gupta Maurya, in “Artha Shastra” 2000 years back. Artha Shastrais considered to be an eternal political and economic guide. So, a question arises whether the present rulers of this country deserve to rule.
“A king loses all his ethical rights to rule the country, when his soldier is forced to fight for his allowances” said Chanakya(Kautilya) to his king Chandra Gupta Maurya, in “Artha Shastra” 2000 years back. Artha Shastrais considered to be an eternal political and economic guide. So, a question arises whether the present rulers of this country deserve to rule.
Valour and gallantry of Indian Army: In 1965, consequent on the victory of the Indian Army over that of Pakistan, Late Lal Bahadur Shastri, the then Prime Minister of India coined a slogan, “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan”. Before J&K elections during his visits there, “our” Prime Minister Modi said,“Because of your presence here we are celebrating Diwali in the country.” Another thing to be noticed is that because of the extra ordinary discipline and patriotism of the Indian Army, our country is still being ruled by the politicians only and not by the army.
Service Conditions In Civil Society: Better to talk less about the damaged work culture in the civil society. Sorry to say assigned works are not done without lubrication.Even the physically challenged superannuates at 58, 60, 62, 65 etc. depending on the department, in which he serves. There is protection under Section 47 of the Disabilities Act, for the civilians, not to be retired, in spite of disability, before superannuation. This does not apply to the army.
Aminor injury, which is natural in their service,makes army persons medically unfit and causes discharge from service leading to premature retirement. In army 85% between 35 -37, and 13% between 40 – 54 years are retired.
Life risk is more in army services. Because of the devotion, discipline, positive attitude etc., the army is deployed in civil works also like rescue operations, natural calamities, maintenance of law and order during civil agitations,even rescuing the children from the, negligently uncovered, bore wells.
“OROP” and its History:One Rank One Pension 'OROP' implies equal amount of pension for having served in the same rank and also having rendered the same length of service.Armed forces personnel holding the same rank will get the same pension, regardless of the last drawn pay, years of service and the years served in a particular rank, under the OROP scheme.Up to 1973 the pensions of the Army personnel and the civil employees were 70% and 30% respectively of the last pay drawn. In 1973, Third Central Pay Commission made all the pensions on par at 50% of the last pay drawn. This clearly shows that the civil pensions are increased and the army pensions are decreased. Further the basic pay of the pensions is not revised by the Pay Commission.
As a resultseniors retired before 2006draw less pension than their juniors retired after 2006. With every successive pay commission the gap between the past pensioners and their younger equivalents increased further abnormally. Because of this reasonthe discontent among ex-servicemen increased largely."The stark difference could be seen after implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission.
For equal service, a sepoy, who retired prior to 1996, gets 82% less pension than a sepoy who retires after 2006. Similarly, among officers, a pre-1996 Major gets 53% less pension than his post 2006 counterpart".The pensions being paid to their soldiers by America, Australia, France, Japan, even by Pakistan are 75% or more of the last pay drawn. The pay and allowances paid by the Singapore government to their army persons are on par with those of the Corporate Companies.
Political Decisions: Sharad Pawar Committee in 1991, recommended for OROP. The Standing Committee on Defence had submitted its report on this issue in 2001. It said, “The Third Pay Commission abolished this scheme in 1973.The servicemen had to go through tough service conditions i.e high risk to life and disturbed family life.
When it was successfully implemented for 26 years after the independence then what was the problem in implementing it further?” Inter-Ministerial Committee in 2003, Group of Ministers in 2005, Cabinet Secretariat Committee in 2009, Koshiyar Committee in 2011 also supported the OROP Scheme and recommended for its implementation.
Court Orders: The Supreme Court in its 1983 ruling stated, "Pension is not a bounty nor a matter of grace depending upon the sweet will of the employer. It is not an ex-gratia payment, but a payment for the past services rendered". Even the Chandigarh Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal accepted OROP demand of ex-servicemen.
The 2008 judgment of the Supreme Court said there should be no classification due to the date of retirement.In 2010 ruling, the court said that the State can't adopt different criteria for the scheme on the basis of cut-off date of retirement.If that is being done then it will be considered as the violation of Article 14 which gives a person constitutional right to be treated equal before law.
In February, 2015 a bench of Justice TS Thakur and Justice AK Goel gave the government a three-month deadline for implementing OROP.”The Supreme Court directed the Union Government to implement its six-year-old verdict to follow the One Rank, One Pension (OROP) principle for retired armed forces personnel“This was part of your manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections.
You must keep your word,” justice Thakur reminded additional solicitor general Pinky Anand while hearing a contempt petition filed by retired Major General SPS Vains.The bench of justices warned the government of contempt if it failed to abide by its order within three months.“We make it clear that no further time will be granted for the purpose of implementation of the judgment,” the bench told Anand who assured the bench that modalities would be worked out till then.
Political Negligence: For years, Congress bluffed only. In theory, UPA Government had accepted the scheme many times but didn't implement. During interim budget 2014, former Finance Minister had earmarked Rs 500 crores for OROP, though aimed to get dividends in Lok sabha election. It was a part of BJP's manifesto.
Narendra Modi reiterated about the scheme many times during his election campaign. The BJP Government allocated Rs 1,000 crore for the scheme in Union Budget.
Trials by and insults meted out to the Ex-Service Men:Several negotiations by the Associations of the Retired Army Officers with the Defence Minister, Parrikar failed. Prime Minister did not intervene. So, the Ex Service men were forced to resort to Protest Agitation from 14-06-2015 as per the notices given. Most of the agitators are the victorious ‘war heroes’ of 1962, 1965, 1971 and 1999. This was forcefully disturbed on 14-08-2015.
A police constable, in an attempt to vacate them from Jantar Mantar, the place of agitation, raised hands on a senior retired officer. He fell down on the ground.The patriotic attitude of “Do or Die” to save the country, of the veteran service men, is crushed by the dictatorial and hegemonic character of “Modi” Sarkar. This reminds me of the sonnet titled “Tired With All These” by William Shakespeare.
In 1609, living in the colonial British rule, he lamented that the deserved and intellectuals are ruled by the fools and the undeserved. The same conditions prevail even now in India, a “common wealth” country.Felt insulted with this police action,from 16-08-2015 two officers followed by another from the next day, resorted to fast unto death. The farmers’ associations, voluntary organisations, intellectual fora etc are supporting the cause of the agitations by the retired army persons.
Even the daughter of the BJP minister and former Army Chief VK Singh, Ms Mrinalini also joined the agitation, reportedly without seeking his permission.Under protest, more than 20,000 gallantry medals are returned. Under insult already in 2009, 10,000 medals of honour were returned to the government. But the then President of India Smt Pratibha Patil did not accept them. So, they are hanging in the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
This is a great insult to the government in fact.Present Position: On 08-07-2015, the bench gave the Union Government another six weeks for implementation of OROP on a request made by additional solicitor general Pinky Anand. Even this extended time is expired. The intervention of the PMO etc are proved as dramas only.No move, yet to implement the Court Orders, appears in near future. The inattentive and careless attitude of Modi towards the Courts Of Law, is proved once again.
S.Hanumantha Reddy
Next Story
ADVERTISEMENT
