EX-SERVICEMEN ARE NOW UNITED AND DETERMINED TO GET
ONE RANK ONE PENSION (OROP) AS PER
DEFINITION APPROVED BY THE PARLIAMENT:
 INDIAN EX-SERVICEMEN MOVEMENT (IESM) CALLS FOR A MAHA RALLY ON SUNDAY, 1 FEBRUARY 2015 AT 1030H AT JANTAR MANTAR NEW DELHI

Ex-servicemen of India, who had served their motherland for decades and then retired from active service, are a neglected lot today. Their welfare has been neglected for over 60 years and there is no one in Government who seems to care. India is the only country in the world that treats its ex-servicemen as discarded ammunition,GOOD FOR NOTHING! UNFORTUNATE BUT TRUE!

Ex-servicemen want a life of respect and recognition. Ex-servicemen expect the Government and the nation to give them the due respect for having served the country with their blood and life.

Biggest loss to 98% of soldiers is that they are forced to retire at the young age of 38 to 40yrs (just because profile of Armed Forces must be kept young), whereas every other citizen of India has a right to work till 60 years of age and thus enjoys much higher pension. Just to give an example: two young men, with the same educational background, from a village take up a Government job, one joins Indian army as a sepoy and other joins as a police constable or clerk in Government dept. A soldier would be forced to retire (provided he survives at borders and extreme weather) at the age of 38 to 40yrs but his friend in other Government service will retain his job till 60 yrs of age even if he is medically unfit and then retire and earn pension. The major disadvantage which is forced on to soldier is that he experiences all hardships and at times sacrifices his life in call of duty but will still earn about Rs 40 lakhs less than his friend if they both survive till the age of 70 years.

The moot question is: why this indifference to a soldier who is ready to sacrifice his life for safety of country and countrymen? Is it not the responsibility of the citizens of this great country and the Government to take care of welfare of the brave soldier and his family when he is in active service and after his retirement and to look after his family after his sacrifice in line of duty? Alas!! It is not happening in India. The citizen and the Government are indifferent to the brave soldier and this neglect has brought the soldier to such penury that even the Honorable Supreme Court had commented that the Government of India is treating its soldiers/ ex-servicemen like beggars.

Ex-servicemen are disciplined by nature. They do not approve of any disruption to civil society and respect freedom of all citizens. Ex-servicemen approached the Government with their demands and problems peacefully. Government did not pay heed to the woes of Ex-servicemen. Ex-servicemen resented this ill treatment; they decided to agitate peacefully like any citizen of India. Ex-servicemen resorted to return of gallantry medals and submitted memorandums signed in their own blood. This resulted in a big hue and cry and poor state of ex-servicemen was reported in international press. This forced the UPA Government to accept the demand of Ex-servicemen and their most cherished demand of OROP was approved in the budget on 17 Feb 14.

NDA Government followed suit and also approved OROP in the budget presented on 10 June 14. OROP has been thus approved by two parliaments; it has become statute, was a personal commitment of PM Sh Narenedra Modi and was approved by all political parties of India. Ex-servicemen were elated that at last their dream of OROP would become a reality. Alas this was not to be so; their expectations were shattered when issuance of Government notification for OROP got stuck in bureaucratic quagmire. Government has failed to issue notification for the payment of OROP dues even after 10 months of its approval. An indicator of GOOD GOVERNANCE of NDA Government!!

Ex-servicemen got united and decided to resume their agitation from 3 Dec to 16 Dec 14 to remind the Government of their commitment and for early issuance of OROP notification. Thousands of Ex-servicemen and other ESM organizations vowed to join in the agitation. ESM UNITY WAS FORGED FOR OROP.

Sh Rajeev Chandrashekhar, MP Rajya Sabha, then approached IESM and advised them to cancel the agitation and suggested that the Government be given more time to issue notification. IESM was not willing to cancel the plan of agitation. Sh Rajeev Chandrashekhar then offered to arrange a meeting with Raksha Mantri to discuss the issue and understand RM’s thought process on OROP. IESM met hon’ble Raksha Mantri on 9 Dec 14. Raksha Mantri personally assured the delegation that he had understood the nuances and finer points of OROP. RM cleared his thought process on yearly increments in defence pension as defined in OROP. RM also brought out wide difference in the expenditure on account of OROP. IESM delegation made it clear to him that finance experts of MOD must have worked out the expenditure for OROP at the time of budget allocation. Expenditure on OROP should be same as estimated for the budget presented in the Parliament by Finance Minister. Bureaucrats are now inflating the figure only to confuse the issue and deny OROP to Armed Forces. RM assured the delegation that his mind is clear on OROP and implementation order for OROP would be out soon. IESM delegation expressed their fear to RM that bureaucrats would certainly attempt to insert commas and full stops to distort or dilute the definition of OROP. RM personally assured that he would not permit any dilution in the definition. IESM delegation came back reassured that the issue of OROP was in right hands and for the first time, in sixty years, Ex-servicemen felt that they would not be denied justice.

Their joy was short-lived, as RM in his interview with Head Lines Today on 16 Dec 14 shattered their hopes when he stated that it would not be possible to meet 100% satisfaction for OROP. He further stated that Government is likely to give 80% to 90% OROP to Ex-servicemen. This statement was a big reversal on his promise on OROP. Ex-servicemen are aghast on this statement and have decided to resume the agitation for pressing their demand for 100% OROP. Ex-servicemen ask only one question from citizen of India; would they approve if Armed Forces fight the enemy or terrorists with 80% efficiency? Armed Forces lost 527 martyrs and 1363 soldiers were seriously injured/maimed during Kargil war because they gave more than 100% under extremely hostile conditions and won the war in 1999 for motherland. Armed Forces lost many more comrades in terrorist actions because they always give more than 100%.  If India does not accept less than 100% efficiency from Armed Forces then why grant only 80% of OROP, this is beyond our comprehension. IESM requests Honorable RM not to fall in the trap of bureaucrats and grant 100% OROP at the earliest.

IESM has full faith in leadership of Hon’ble RM and expect that he would soon find a suitable solution to overrule the machinations of bureaucrats against OROP and Armed Forces of India. IESM expects Hon’ble RM to fulfill his commitments made to IESM and other ESM organizations.

IESM has received calls from thousands of veterans and many ESM organizations that they are willing to support the agitation planned by IESM to press for 100% satisfaction on OROP.

IESM is steadfast that OROP has only one definition. This definition has been approved by the Parliament and any deviation/ dilution would NOT be accepted in the definition of OROP.

IESM requests all Ex-servicemen and ESM organizations to join in a MAHA RALLY ON 1 FEB 15 SUNDAY AT JANTAR MANTAR NEW DELHI TO PRESS FOR FULL OROP AS PER APPROVED DEFINITION.

DEAR EX-SERVICEMEN, NOW IS THE TIME TO UNITE AND GET YOUR DEMANDS APPROVED. JOIN IESM MAHA RALLY ON 1 FEB 15 SUNDAY AT 1030 H AT JANTAR MANTAR IN NEW DELHI IN LARGE NUMBERS TO ENSURE THAT GOVERNMENT TAKES YOUR DEMANDS SERIOUSLY AND APPROVES THEM.

Gp Capt VK Gandhi VSM                                                        

Gen Sec IESM                                                                            

26 Dec 14