After ray of hope, OROP talks slip back into deadlock

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 28

Talks between the government and ex-servicemen on the issue of One Rank One Pension (OROP) today showed signs of a breakthrough only to later return to their original stance in the evening.

Retired soldiers sitting on a dharna at Jantar Mantar agreed to a “concession” this morning and offered a mid-way path to accept revision of pensions. After getting no response from the government till late in the evening, the “concession” was withdrawn.

In the talks between the government and the ex-servicemen, the government had proposed that the hike in pensions — to make them equal for same rank and same length of service — would be done once in five years.

Earlier during the day, Major General Satbir Singh (retd) of the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement (IESM) had said: “We have agreed to accept a biennial (once in two years) equalising of pensions instead of an annual equalising as per the demand.”

But, as the government did not respond till late in the evening, the offer was withdrawn. “We have withdrawn the offer for concession,” Major General Satbir Singh said.

The system of equalising the pension is crucial as the OROP entails same pension for all those who retired in the same rank with equal length of service. It means if the OROP is announced and implemented in 2015, a Colonel, who retired in 1985 and a Colonel who retired in 2014, will get equal pension. But once the period of regular equalisation is approved, their hikes will depend on it. Thus meaning the next revision would come two years later.