OROP row: Ex-servicemen undertake protest march to Rashtrapati Bhavan

Chousef

Editor

posted on 9 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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Ex-servicemen started returning their gallantry medals to protest against the government notification on the implementation of OROP.

New Delhi: Defence veterans on Wednesday intensified their movement on the One Rank, One Pension (OROP) scheme and marched towards Rashtrapati Bhavan, which led to a scuffle with the police in the evening.

A large contingent of police force rushed to the spot and prevented the protesters to continue with the protest rally. Speaking to CNN-IBN, Colonel (retired) Anil Kaul said that they will continue to raise their voice till government fulfils their demand.

During the day, veterans gathered at Jantar Mantar and raised slogans against government's indifferent attitude and decided to meet the President for his intervention into the matter. The protesters demanded that government should resolve the issue at the earliest and express their desire to have a dialogue with the government.

A unified call for a dialogue with the government came after a section of BJP leaders including Siddharth Nath Singh on Tuesday assured that any existing anomalies in the OROP scheme would be sorted out in due course of time.

However, situation turned bitter after Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had said that it is impossible to satisfy everyone. "We have fulfilled the main OROP demand including the Voluntary Retirement Scheme. This is a democracy and one has the right to put forth their demand, but they can't expect it to be fulfilled every time. You fulfil one demand and another one stands up," he had said.

Since Tuesday the officials started returning their medals to protest against the government notification on the implementation of OROP, which they have rejected after government refuses to implement some of the crucial clauses in the scheme.

They have listed seven deviations in the announcement, including annual equalisation, 2013-2014 financial year as the base year for calculating pension, taking the highest pension scale of 2013 as the base for calculation and not the average as announced by the government, not to link OROP with the seventh pay commission and accept that OROP once implemented will continue forever and in perpetuity.