Ex-servicemen accuse govt of manipulating definition of OROP

Major General (retd.) Satbir Singh, who is leading the One Rank One Pension (OROP) protest, on Sunday accused the government of manipulating the OROP’s definition, and said ex-servicemen would take their protest to the masses if a fresh notification was not issued.

Major General (retd.) Satbir Singh, who is leading the One Rank One Pension (OROP) protest, on Sunday accused the government of manipulating the OROP’s definition, and said ex-servicemen would take their protest to the masses if a fresh notification was not issued.

Satbir Singh, who is the chairman of Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement (IESM), was speaking to the media at an OROP protest rally organised by ex-servicemen in Ambala on Sunday.

He said that the ex-defence personnel were ‘annoyed and angry’ with the current notification on OROP.

“This rally is being held to bring to the notice of the people of Haryana and Punjab, and all the other states, that this notification issued by the government is not OROP. They have defeated the definition of one rank one pension. We are annoyed and angry,” he told ANI.

“We are intensifying the movement, we are spreading it to the youth, and to every member of the society. They give assurance and they don’t fulfill, and that too to faujis, it is shocking,” he added.

The IESM chairman further urged the government to withdraw the current OROP notification and reissue a fresh one after rectifying the shortcomings.

“We request you to withdraw the notification immediately, correct the seven shortcomings, and reissue a fresh notification,” he said.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had on Friday reiterated that the promise on the OROP was fulfilled, adding that if the protesting veterans had any pending issues regarding the OROP notification, they could go to the judicial commission.

Singh had even lashed out at Parrikar earlier for failing to deliver his promises on the OROP scheme and warned him to stop misleading the nation while daring him to meet with their delegation for an open discussion.