The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday gave a go ahead for the revision of the ‘One Rank One Pension’ scheme. The development was announced by I&B Minister Anurag Thakur on Friday evening. With this revision in place, the defence personnel and other family beneficiaries will get enhanced pension, Thakur said.
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Now, family pensioners such as disabled ex-personnel and war widows will also come under the purview of the OROP scheme. According to the Central government, Rs 23,638 crore will be paid as arrears. The time period for the arrears – July 2019 to June 2022. Over 25 lakh defence personnel and their families will benefit from the revised OROP. The new OROP scheme will have an additional expenditure. This will come to Rs 8,450 crore approximately, the government said.
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Who will be the beneficiaries under revised OROP?
Any personnel of the Indian Armed Forces, who retired from the active duty till June, 2019 will be covered under the new OROP scheme. This will, however, not include those personnel who left the forces after taking pre-mature retirement (The PMR is applicable to any defence personnel wef July, 2014). The new OROP will cover 25.13 lakh beneficiaries in total. This also include around 4.5 lakh new beneficiaries, the government said in a statement.
How will govt pay OROP arrears?
The Centre will pay the arrears under the new OROP scheme in four half-yearly instalments. While this process is applicable for all beneficiries, there are some execptions. The family pensioners who come under the category of Gallantry Award winners will get the OROP arrears in single instalment, the government said.