|
One Rank One Pension (OROP), or "same pension, for same rank, for same length of service, irrespective of the date of retirement" was decided as the basis for determining the pension and benefits of Indian Armed Forces in 1973, when it was terminated by the Indian Ministry of Defence (MOD), in an "ex-parte" decision, during the tenure of the Indian National Congress (INC) led by Indira Gandhi. The termination of OROP, and drastic decrease in Armed Forces soldiers' pension from 70 percent to 50 percent of last pay drawn, two years after 1971 Bangladesh war, caused disquiet in the Indian Armed Forces and, since 2008, has been cause of public appeals and protests,〔 and hunger strikes by armed forces veterans, the overwhelming majority of whom retire before they are forty years old. In 2008, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government, led by Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister, while disregarding OROP for the Armed Forces, granted OROP to present, and future civil Servants, in perpetuity, at the apex pay grade (Rs 80,000), the highest pay grade in the government, the pay grade at which majority of the officials of India's Central Civil Services, including police officers, retire. In contrast to near hundred percent Apex-OROP coverage to past and future retiree from the civil services, including majority of civilian officers in Ministry of Defence responsible for providing secretarial, logistic, and rear area services to the Armed Forces, only a fraction of one percent of the armed forces officers, as hedge against their opposition to the scheme, were also sanctioned OROP.〔 Sanction of OROP at apex scale to all civil services was accompanied by two other radical decisions in 2008: grant of 'non-functional financial up-gradation' 〔 to all civil services including the Indian Police Service, and creation of several hundred new posts of secretaries and Special Secretaries, at the apex grade pay level, so as to make almost all civilian and police officers eligible for apex scale OROP pensions. For the Indian Police service, for instance, over three dozen new apex grade pay level post were created.〔 'Non-functional financial up-gradation'(NFU) was not extended to Armed Forces. These decisions, widened the increasing the pay and pension gap between defence and civilian officials. It sharply downgraded time scale and highly selective Armed Forces pay grades and ranks across the board, most significantly, at the senior ranks of Colonel to Major General, and their equivalents in the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force (IAF). The pay and pension down grades, with wide organizational and morale ramifications, were widely resented by the armed forces.〔 In response to the growing unease in the Armed Forces, and escalating protest by veterans with implementation of OROP as focus, the Government set up of a ten-member all-party Parliamentary Panel, known as the Koshyari Committee after its chairman, to examine the OROP issue.〔 The Koshyari Committee after considering the evidence, and hearing oral depositions for eight months, submitted it report in December 2011. The committee unanimously found merit in OROP and strongly recommended that, "Government should implement OROP in the defence forces across the board at the earliest and further that for future, the pay, allowances, pension, family pension, etc., in respect of the defence personnel should be determined by a separate commission"〔 Despite the Koshyari Committee report, public commitments, including in the parliament, and visible disaffection amongst the armed force veterans, the UPA Government was slow to reach out to the veterans and implement OROP. In May 2014, the UPA Government lost the election. It was replaced by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which like the Congress Party, had included implementation of OROP in its election manifesto. Sonia Gandhi of INC, and Narendra Modi of BJP, at political rallies made repeated commitments to implement OROP, if elected. Narendra Modi, the BJP prime Ministerial candidate, in order to win armed forces and veteran support, made implementation of OROP an election rallying call. The BJP leadership after it assumed office continued to make pledges, and promises, but did not implement OROP. This raised doubts and suspicion amongst ex-servicemen about its intent to implement OROP according to the accepted definition. The BJP ambivalence provoked nation wide protests by the veterans, starting 15 June 2015.〔 On 14 August 2015, Rajnath Singh, the Home Minister of India, ordered the Delhi Police and Central Reserve Police Force, a Counter Insurgency force under the Ministry of Home Affairs, to remove the ex-servicemen gathered at Jantar Mantar. The police, citing security concerns, in a ham handed operation 'pushed around', dragged, assaulted, lathi-charged and otherwise humiliated the peaceful gathering of Ex servicemen, and their families, many of whom were in their eighties. Maj Gen (Retd) Satbir Singh, Chairman of Indian Ex Servicemen Movement, after the police raid, told the Press Trust of India, "This is shocking and obnoxious. Nothing can be worse. We are the protectors of India's Independence. The move to remove our tents is barbaric, undemocratic and dictatorial."〔"One Rank One Pension: Ex-servicemen resist eviction from Jantar Mantar". U Tube. N Delhi: Times Now. 14 August 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015〕 On 5 September 2015 the NDA Government, following 83 days of public protest, announced, unilaterally, the implementation the 'OROP Scheme' for the Armed Forces. The order to implement OROP was issued two months later on On 7 November 2015. The Ex-servicemen greeted the Government OROP Scheme of 5 September as well as the implementation order of 7 November with dismay and dissappointment.〔 They said OROP sanctioned by the government did not conform with the 'accepted' definition of OROP, and decided to continue with their protest. == OROP definition== 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「One Rank, One Pension」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|