OROP will apply to those leaving armed forces early: PM Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today made it clear that the armed forces jawans who have had to give up their jobs prematurely would be covered by OROP benefits announced by the government yesterday, a statement welcomed by the agitating ex-servicemen who decided to call off their hunger strike but would continue their stir.

A day after the government announced acceptance of the long-pending demand on OROP (One-Rank, One-Pension) by ex-servicemen, Modi deprecated efforts to “mislead” the servicemen on the early retirement benefits.

“Some people feel that those who have to leave the job after 15-17 years of service will not get OROP. My jawan brothers, whether it is a havildar, a sepoy or a naik, you are the ones who secure the nation. If anybody gets OROP, you will be the first,” he said at a rally in Faridabad, in Haryana on the outskirts of Delhi, while inaugurating a Metro line.

“Those who have lost any part of their body while fighting a war and had to leave the army, can they be deprived of OROP? A Prime Minister who loves the armed forces can never even think about it. All such people will get OROP.

“That is why, out of Rs 8,000-10,000 crore, the maximum will go to those jawans who have to leave the armed forces after serving for 15-17 years,” he added, while noting that such soldiers constitute 80-90 per cent of the armed forces.

The Prime Minister contended that in the name of VRS (Voluntary Retirement from Service), “efforts are being made to mislead you (soldiers), which is wrong…. there is no need for anybody to be misleding. This government is clear that we had made a promise to the jawans, who live and die for the nation, and yesterday we made the announcement.”

Ex-servicemen, who have been on agitation for the last 85 days in Delhi, broadly welcomed the government’s decision on OROP which will cost the exchequer between Rs 8000-10,000 crore but said they would continue their agitation because a number of their key demands had not be met.

One of them was revision of pension every two years but the government has decided to revise pension every five years.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who made the announcement yesterday, had said that it will not apply to Voluntary retirement, drawing angry reactions from the agitating exservicemen who said there was no concept of VRS in the armed forces.

Later, after meeting the minister last night, they had said the minister had agreed with them there is no VRS in defence services and so OROP will be applicable in Pre-mature Retirement.

After the PM’s statement today, Maj Gen (retd) Satbir Singh, who is leading the agitation, said the exservicemen welcomed these comments and therefore the hunger strike would be ended but the agitation would continue till the remaining four points are agreed to by the government.

The four points, which the exservicemen said remain pending, are: revision of pension, composition of the Commission proposed to be set up by the government, the timeline by which it should present its report and the base year from which OROP should be applicable.

“We still have four issues that have still not been resolved. One is the equalisation of the pension,” said Singh.

He said the government has said that the review will be done in every five years. “This is totally unjustified and not according to the definition of the OROP. We will again request the government to go by the approved definition of the OROP. We will again meet the government to discuss this.”

The leader of exservicemen added that if the government approves yearly revision, then the judicial commission is not required at all. “However, since the government has announced the formation of a judicial commission, we demand that it should have five members comprising three ex-servicmen, one serving chief of staff and another representative from the Ministry of Defence, nominated by the defence minister.”

The third point, he said is that the Commission should give its report in one-month and not six months as proposed by the government and the implementation of this should be in next 15 days after the submission of the report.

The fourth is that the exservicemen want the base year to be 2013-14 instead of 2014 as stated by the government.

“In the draft, calender year of 2013 was mentioned. Even in that they have mentioned the average of the top of the scale will be taken. Which means instead of taking the top of the scale from December 31, they have taken an average of the year, which is July 1 (2014). This is also not acceptable to us,” Satbir Singh said.

He said another contentious issue was the VRS (Voluntary Retirement Scheme), which was in the draft when the exservicemen met Parrikar yesterday.

“We said defence forces do not have the concept of VRS, but we have pre-mature retirement. We have been told that those who have taken pre-mature retirement will also covered under the OROP. And even the PM has also cleared the air on the issue and put an end to it. We thank the government for the same,” he said.

“We urge our brothers to end the hunger strike. The notification should be out in 15 days or a month. However, if the government dilutes any provision then we will continue with our hunger strike,” he added.

Singh said the exservicemen have planned a rally on September 12 at Jantar Mantar.

The Prime Minister, while addressing the rally, said the decision on OROP, which has been pending for 42 years, was a “very difficult” one and slammed the people who are trying to “mislead” the armed forces over the issue.

He also made a veiled attack on Congress for criticising the decision, saying the party has no right to question it since it did “nothing” in 40 years and only “lip sympathy” was provided to the armed forces through all these decades.

Modi attacked the previous UPA government for earmarking only Rs 500 crore.

Responding to questions over the time taken to address the issue, he said his answerability began only from May 26 last year when he took office “but some people are committing the sin of misleading the public”.

“This matter has been pending for 42 years. In these four decades, many governments came and went but none could find a solution to this. Only lip sympathy was provided. It was difficult to implement. Today, I also feel this (difficulty). It is not an easy task,” he said, adding that the government decided to implement it as the respect for the armed forces is supreme.

“For the previous government, OROP was mere Rs 500 crore. When we came to power, we thought may it could be Rs 600-700 crore. But when we sat down to calculate, new things came up. The government was in a fix, the officials were in a fix… For the past few days, I started calculating and realised that Rs 500 crore is nothing and it could be to the tune of Rs 8000 to Rs 10,000 crore,” the Prime Minister said.

“The matter is very complicated and we don’t know where all its implications would be. In the coming days, what all difficulties will come… But my dear soldiers, we had made a promise and we are fulfilling it,” he said.

In a clear reference to the UPA government, Modi said, “Even those who proposed Rs 500 crore for OROP could not understand the issue.”

In an apparent attack on Congress which has criticised the provisions in the OROP, Modi said, “Those who did nothing for 40-42 years, do they have any right to ask questions? They only misled you and committed sins. They want to score political points….Oneupmanship will not help the nation.”

Taking a dig at critics, the Prime Minister said, “There’s a new fashion that when the government takes a good decision it is questioned by those who do not want development.”

Paying tributes to soldiers, he said, “…80-90 per cent of our army consists of those jawans who hold small posts, who carry guns on their shoulders and take on the enemy. They are the first in risking their lives but to ensure that the age in army is less, they have to quit job after 15, 17 or 20 years. The army uses different terminologies for this.”

Referring to the commission proposed to be set up, he again said that the armed forces should not be misled on the issue also as this is not any pay commission.

“This commission is there to address any shortcomings, if any, to see if any small changes are needed,” he said.

He noted that he had made the pledge while addressing a rally of ex-servicemen in Rewari in Haryana on September 13, 2013 as BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate.

This decision is inspired by patriotism, he said, telling the armed forces that the government “is yours, is there to look into your grievances and will stand by you whenever required”.

The Prime Minister said the nation will not progress by only indulging in politics but through national policy.

“The country cannot develop through conflict but by dialogue. Elections will come and go. If there is only one solution to our problems it is development. We are working on only one point, one mantra, one objective, one path and one goal — that is development,” he said.

“It would have been better if the work of development had been completed in last 60 years. A lot of work is pending. But only criticising previous governments will not help. Our responsibility is to look for ways for development,” he said.