Ex-servicemen protesting at Delhi's Jantar Mantar, demanding One Rank One Pension (Agence France-Presse photo)
An announcement on One Rank One Pension or OROP, expected to be the centerpiece of the Prime Minister's Independence Day speech tomorrow, might just be scaled down to another political promise, with talks stuck on financial math, say sources.
Here are the latest developments:
Sources said the OROP talks are "on the verge of solution" but a date for its implementation might not make it to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech tomorrow with several details yet to be worked out.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar would only say today, "Whatever the government has assured on OROP will be delivered."
For nearly a decade, former Army officers and soldiers have demanded the same pension as those of the same rank who are retiring now. Right now, an officer who retired many years ago is paid far less than someone several ranks junior to him.
The sticking point in talks between ex-servicemen and the government, sources said, is over the date of commencement. The veterans have rejected the government proposal to benchmark pensions at 2011 rates. They insist that 2014 rates must apply as that is when the Narendra Modi government promised OROP.
Government sources say to do that, it will need to provision for a massive Rs 20,000 crore, rather than the Rs 8,000 crore that the scheme is otherwise expected to cost.
Sources said the Prime Minister had picked General VP Malik (retd), who was Army Chief during the Kargil war, to be the mediator in the talks, but the latter walked out of the role after 48 hours, saying the "gap between the two sides is too wide."
A group of retired military chiefs have urged President Pranab Mukherjee as the Supreme Commander of the forces to "urgently intervene," warning that denying OROP will "severely damage the officer-jawan relationship."
The ex-chiefs have said in their letter that the political delay in implementing the scheme has "not only triggered a process of politicization of the Indian military, but also served to inflict grave damage on its morale and self-esteem."
At a protest by ex-servicemen at Delhi's Jantar Mantar today, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi reminded the Prime Minister that he had promised OROP before last year's national elections. "He just needs to announce a date for its implementation," Mr Gandhi said.
Mr Modi had in a speech in Rewari, not far from Delhi, flayed the previous Congress-led government for not implementing the long-standing demand and had promised that the BJP would implement it once voted into power.
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