File Photo: Congress MP and former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh
Congress MP Amarinder Singh today hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking if his government can provide Rs 1 lakh crore special package to Jammu and Kashmir, what prevented it from sparing Rs 9,100 crore for one-rank one-pension (OROP) for the ex-servicemen.
He regretted the "long and unexplained delay" in granting OROP to the ex-servicemen by the NDA government, despite the previous UPA regime "already having approved it".
Reminding the PM of the promises he made to ex-servicemen over the issue during poll campaign, Captain Amarinder said, "Now more than a year has passed since you formed government and the matter is perpetually and deliberately being delayed. This delay amounts to virtual denial."
He wondered whether an amount of Rs 9100 crores really matter for a country like India and that too when it was meant for our retired defence personnel.
The former Punjab Chief Minister said, the ex-servicemen have given their life for the country guarding our borders in most hostile conditions.
"Most of them have spent their life entirely in Kashmir and a number of them sacrificed it for the sake of the country", he said while wondering as how could the government be so "insensitive" towards the genuine and justified demand of the veterans.