One
rank, one pension (OROP) for military veterans was one of the first public
promises made by Narendra Modi in his campaign which immediately won him the
support of a majority of veterans in the country.
It’s
been a year of the Modi government now, but there has been no movement, and
emotions and impatience are running high.
One
rank one pension (OROP) for military veterans was one of the first public
promises made by Narendra Modi in
September 2013 after being declared the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate.
Although Congress party
followed with its promise of implementing the OROP, Modi’s announcement at
Rewari immediately won him the support of the majority of 2.8 million veterans
in the country. The UPA government even allotted Rs 500 crore for OROP in the
interim budget last year but not many trusted its intentions by then.
Despite
many assurances by various BJP ministers
over past one year, the government has still not issued orders for
implementation of OROP. Based on off the record briefings from senior
ministers, most veterans expected PM Modi to formally announce it during the
first anniversary rally at Mathura last week. His silence on OROP has caused
much anguish among the veterans. The emotions are running high as some war
heroes refused to attend a function at Pune on Thursday where the defense
minister felicitated the veterans. An ex-servicemen organization has announced
a public protest rally, including a hunger strike, in Delhi on 14 June.
Put
simply, OROP means that every soldier who retires in the same rank gets the
same pension, irrespective of his date of retirement. As of now, soldiers who
retired more recently receive more pension than those who did earlier, because
pensions are dependent on the last salary drawn — and successive pay
commissions have hiked salaries. Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defense
and Rajya Sabha Committee on petitions have recommended holistic implementation
of OROP. In his first full budget last July, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reaffirmed
his party’s commitment by allotting Rs 1,000 crore towards OROP. That allotment
has lapsed and no such allotment was made in this year’s budget.
After
taking over as the defense minister, Manohar Parrikar spoke of 80 percent
satisfaction levels for pensioners with his model of OROP. The debate over what
constitutes OROP – and the formula to fix the OROP pension – has exercised the defense
services and defense ministry. Even soldiers who retire in the same rank do not
usually draw the same last salary. This is because one Brigadier could spend
more time in the rank of Brigadier while another Brigadier may take longer to
get promoted, thus getting less pay as Brigadier — or one could reach
retirement age earlier than the other.
The
formula prepared by the defense ministry, with the concurrence of the three defense
services, overcame the problem of variations in rank and last pay drawn by
creating standardised slabs for each rank with a certain length of service.
This proposal was sent to the finance ministry for approval.
In
a recent interview, however, PM Modi said “that there are too many definitions
[of OROP] going around yet, and we are looking for one on which all
stakeholders agree”. This means that an OROP formula has been finalized by the
government. It also raises questions about Defence Minister’s statement to The Indian Express that 8,400 crore
is confirmed as the outgo for implementing OROP.
In
any case, whether 8,400 crore or 14,000 crore, that will be only the current
expenditure. It is bound to increase every year and with every successive pay
commission – a constant escalation of the implicit pension debt on the
government. Moreover, as military personnel retire at a younger age compared to
their civilian counterparts, defence pensions are paid for a much longer
period. This fear of an increasingly unsustainable defence pensions bill –
which is already at 54,500 crore this year without OROP – is perhaps holding
the government back.
The
government also seems worried that OROP could lead to a similar demand from
civilian pensioners, which, if fulfilled, would spell a fiscal doom for the
central and state governments. Conscious of its ballooning pensions bill, the
government had moved its civilian employees to a contributory pension scheme in
2004. The demand of these employees to revert to the old fixed pensions regime
will be bolstered by grant of OROP.
Notwithstanding
the merits of these arguments, OROP is a demand supported by all political
parties. It remains a very emotive issue for veterans and soldiers. PM Modi has
assured the veterans that he is “absolutely committed” to OROP and his
“government is here for five years”. While this almost rules out any immediate
announcement, it also provides his government ample time to work towards
containing the fallouts of implementing the OROP.
Article by: Sushant Singh, Indian Express, 1st June, 2015
12 comments:
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar’s estimate of Rs 8,300 crore is only a one-time payout. This amount will increase eventually and substantially every time a new pay commission makes its recommendations, with all old pensioners being paid at the new rate. There is also a chance of civilian employees, such as the state police forces, raising the demand for OROP,thus shaken up the whole system.there will be inherent discrimination against conditions of service,the economic situation,the levels of competition,stress and many other factors which would lead to discrimination under the Constitution”,if today’s pension rates are passed on directly to somebody who retired decades ago.Is this really justified?
8,400*
One Rank One Pension For Judges
Apart from pension issue of army person there will be OROP for judges.As a student of law I found this relevant.
The Hon’ble Supreme court had, Inter-alia, allowed the prayer in a Writ Petition (Civil) No. 521/2002 titled as P. Ramakrishnam Raju Vs Union of India & Others vide judgment dated the 31st March, 2014 directing that “for pensionary benefits, ten years practice as an advocate be added as qualifying service for Judges elevated from the Bar with effect from the 1st April, 2004, the date on which section 13A was inserted by the High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Act, 2005 (46 of 2005).” In view of the above order, Government has approved appropriate amendment to the High court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1954. Accordingly, notice for introduction of “The High Court and the Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill, 2015” in the current session of the Parliament has been given.
This information was given by Union Minister of Ministry of Law & Justice, Shri D. V. Sadananda Gowda in a written reply in Lok Sabha today
Sir,
What I think is that OROP means that two persons retiring with the same rank and servicing for the same duration get the same pension.
Recently, PM Narendra Modi on independence day in his speech talked about the OROP but he had not clarify it that when it will be applicable.
Last government had just passed the bills to collect the votes in elections, they even not seen it in the welfare mode for other citizen working in government jobs.
If the soldier X joins in 1984 serves 15 years and retires in 1999. Soldier Y join in 2001 serves 15 years and retires with same rank in 2015. Why should they have the same pension?
Sir,
In my understanding of things, in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, Narendra Modi's party had politicised Indian soldiers unlike any other had done in the past.
Our armed forces are our most loved and respected institution. If you took a vote around the country and the question was whether or not the veterans should be paid what they are asking for, the answer would definitely be yes. The government is now left with no choice but to implement OROP promise, whatever the cost and howsoever disruptive it may now be to others, civilian and paramilitary forces. That is an example of how political agenda's can backfire really badly.
My views on this would be that economic conditions back in the 80s and the economic conditions in the present time is different altogether. So pension given in the 80s should be different from that given in the present world. So this is where Mr. Narendra Modi and his government faltered really badly.
Thank you.
If we see the union budget, allocation in defence sector has increased from previous year's allocation and thus here a slight intention or very good strategy of the current government is only shown and there has been an increase in allocation for OROP and that has went to 1000 crore but government still has to think upon this as it will also have affect on the coming decisions on any insurance or pension matters or any other decisions related to other civic bodies in the country.
A no. of people are saying that why there should be same pension for officer retiring in 80's and in the current time. SO comparing economically the situation of both people.
assume that the officer in 80's retire with a pension of 5000 at that time and in the current time another person with the same rank retire with a pension of 20000. There is a wide gap between the income of both the parties but the market situation for both of them is the same. They both require at least 15000 to survive in a very decent manner in the society. The officer who retired in the recent time would be able to manage his household but the person from the late 80's won't be able to run his household. So there is a need to manage the pension scheme in a different way. And ultimately at whatever time they might have served but they both had a sole motto i.e., serving the NATION.
Sir,
We can define pension as a return gift for the services which we have rendered to a particular organisation for the no. of years.
And on the other hand Pay is the remuneration we get for the work we do. So according to this premise we can say that pension has nothing to do with pay or our rank but simply it is linked with the no. of years we have worked in an an organisation. So pension should be computed on the basis of our work experience instead on the basis of on the same post.
OROP may have some merits but if we talk on a larger section it will hinder our defence efficiency as because of this many officers and soldiers will retire at an early age because they know pension will be same for them and after retirement they might get benefits form their second carrier options too.
So the basic criterion to compute pension should be work experience not the rank or pay.
Dear Saloni, Devesh, Saurabh, Katikey, Harshit, Shubham and Simrann,
Fantastic Analysis!
The case of judges is intriguing. It s learning for me..(by Shubham)
Jurisprudence and legal standing of pension as a concept (by Saloni)
Effect of differential Pensions on army men and why we should go for OROP (by Devesh)
Political economy behind OROP (by Saurabh)
Govt's failure to walk and talk & politicization of the issue (by Kartikey)
Injustice and indifferent attitude towards our army men (by Harshit)
The economic consequences of OROP are relevant to the OROP debate (Simrann)
Your views and analysis are highly appreciated
Warm Regards,
Arun
Soldier have short career a military jawan retires at age 35, while a normal person can work until he is of age 60. To make up for their shorter working lives, giving up the important stages of their lives to the country and after giving up the army they cannot get into another government job of the same grade and status, veterans need compensation that is comparable to what a soldier of the same rank retiring today would get from the government to have a secured future.And giving OROP also provides emotional support to the upcoming generations of the soldiers.
Sir,
Modi Sir should try and salvage what is left of his reputation by taking OROP to completion. He has promised it, it is part of their manifesto and now there is no going back. All citizens of India are supporting our armed forces in their struggle.This should be implimented as soon as possible.Although it will require funds and revenues but govt.can do this much for the people who devoted their lives for this country.There is nothing wrong in it because a person deserves the pension of the rank on which he has retired,he has the the right to take that pension as he has earned that promotion by his continious hard work and contribution in the nations security.
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