Protesting defence veterans once again reiterated that the government must announce the implementation of One rank One Pension scheme at the earliest. Claiming that One Rank One Pension was their right and not a bonanza, the veterans also flayed the government for trying to project the protesting former soldiers as greedy.
"These are not demands. Stop using that word, nor is it a bonanza. It is our right. We have asked for periodic review of pension so that at no point is the OROP as is accepted by Parliament is not violated. A defence personnel should at no point of time get a pension which is less than what an official junior in rank to him is getting," said Colonel Anil Kaul (retired), a Vir Chakra recipient.
"We are not fighting for money. It is a fight for our rights, our esteem and self respect. The government is trying to prove that we are being greedy which is wrong," added Group Captain VK Gandhi (retired).
Colonel Kaul also pointed that there has been no communication from the government on OROP to the protesting veterans till now. Group Captain VK Gandhi claimed that the payout in the first year will only be Rs 72 crore.
The former Indian Air Force officer also blamed the bureaucracy for the delay. "If one IAS officer from a batch becomes a secretary, the entire batch across the country gets the same scale even when they are not doing the same work unlike what we are demanding. We are demanding only what is our right and it is not a big amount for the government. Pension equalisation should be every year. We have never asked for monthly increments, this is wrong information," he added.
Government sources say they left with only two options - to announce OROP or keep quite. The broad agreement on OROP is already made and the scheme could be announced before the Election Commission issues notification for Bihar Assembly elections.
Several retired defence personnel have been protesting at Delhi's Jantar Mantar for One Rank One Pension. Some of them are also on fast-unto-death.
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