Will clear hurdles, hike OROP funding: VK Singh

  Hindustan Times  Arainpura (Karnal), October 13, 2014 

Aiming at gaining support of ex-servicemen in the Haryana assembly elections, Union minister and former army chief VK Singh said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would “soon clear bureaucratic hurdles” to implement the ‘one rank-one pension’ (OROP) scheme for the armed forces. Urging the people to “throw stones” at other parties, Singh said the Centre had allotted Rs. 1,000 crore for the implementation of the OROP scheme in the budget. He was addressing a rally in support of the party’s nominee from Gharaunda, Harvinder Kalyan, who had recently joined the saffron party. Once a close aide of late chief minister Bhajan Lal, Kalyan quit the Congress in 2005 and joined the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) floated by Bhajan Lal. Then he joined the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and contested the 2009 elections unsuccessfully as its candidate.
Meanwhile, Singh, Union minister of state for external affairs, said the Centre would increase the OROP allocation and “may start disbursing dues in installments”. He claimed, “The Congress government did nothing for the ex-servicemen. The BJP upon assuming power paved the way for fulfillment of the long-pending demand. Though the Centre has made up its mind to implement the scheme, files are pending with bureaucrats. I am sure these would be cleared soon.”