One Rank One Pension: PM Modi Promises Solution, Asks Armed Forces to be Patient

This government will find a solution to the the One Rank One Pension issue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised the defence forces this morning in his monthly radio address Mann ki Baat.

"You have been patient for 40 years, wait for some more time. This is a complex issue... I promise we will hold discussions and resolve it," he said. "Is it not true that the issue has remained unresolved for 40 years? Every government talked about this, but did nothing?"

"I am not talking as the Prime Minister, I wish to address our forces as an individual, from the heart," he said.

This was the second time PM Modi promised action on the issue that had pushed two decorated war veterans to boycott an event attended by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar last week.  

PM Modi was widely expected to announce the scheme last Monday when he addressed a rally in Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, but he had not.

Wing Commander SD Karnik, a 1971 war veteran, had said he was disillusioned by the non-implementation of the scheme, which is meant to ensure that defence personnel who retire at the same rank and with the same length of service get equal pension, irrespective of when they retired.

Mr Parrikar has said the scheme was "on its way" but he could not promise a date for its implementation.

"Two or three steps remain so can't give you a specific time," he had said. What made it more difficult was that it involved various departments. Sources told NDTV that the file is shuttling between the finance and defence ministries.

Six years ago, the Supreme Court had directed the government to implement the scheme. In February, the court gave three more months to the government, saying non implementation by the end of it will amount to contempt of court. The time limit ends in May.

The Congress criticised PM Modi for saying the issue was a "vexed" one.

"Unfortunately, he (PM Modi) did not touch upon even a single of these issues. Rather, he chose to further compound the problem and confuse the entire issue by saying that OROP is a very complex issue," senior Congress leader Ajay Maken told reporters.