Ex-servicemen have been protesting for 74 days at Jantar Mantar, demanding pension parity.
The Centre said it has "significantly narrowed down" the gaps with the agitating ex-servicemen, but gave no concrete assurances over 'One Rank One Pension' even as the veterans sought President Pranab Mukherjee's intervention to resolve the issue.
"I understand that over the last few days the gap has narrowed down significantly... The principle which implements OROP we are committed to it but it has to be based on some principles," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said yesterday at an event held in Delhi.
He also cautioned against raising demands which the economy cannot afford.
"You have to have a more disciplined economy and those raising demands in the various segments must realise that the governments can also implement such demands as much as the state of the economy can afford. But I'd like to see people being paid more," Mr Jaitley said.
The Finance Minister said one cannot have a system where pension of one segment is revised every year.
"Can it happen anywhere else in the world? And then if you do it one segment you have a demonstrative effect on other segments. And then we can forget about fiscal deficits and fiscal prudence and probably what happened last Monday will probably happen once every month if we discard all fiscal norms," he added.
The annual revision of pension is one of the key demands of the ex-servicemen who are seeking implementation of OROP.
Meanwhile, ex-servicemen took their 76-day-old agitation a notch higher by seeking the intervention of President Mukherjee to resolve the issue, stating that if any "damage or mishap happens" to those on hunger strike he and the government will be "solely responsible".
UFESM, an umbrella organisation of agitating veterans, noted that as many as four former soldiers, who are on fast- unto-death, have been hospitalised and that health of another ex-serviceman Havildar Major Singh, who was on an indefinite fast since August 16, was fast deteriorating.
"Panel of doctors has declared that his medical condition has deteriorated to dangerous level and he needs to be hospitalised immediately to save his life," the letter, a copy of which has also been sent to PMO, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and BJP President Amit Shah, said.