What Congress, BJP and AAP Have Done on OROP

The body of army veteran Subedar Ram Kishan Grewal, who committed suicide on Tuesday over the delay in implementation of OROP was cremated in Bhiwani, Haryana in the presence of several political leaders cutting across parties.

From Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, leaders have not refrained from extracting political mileage from out of Grewal’s suicide.

Political parties have indulged in mudslinging and blamed each other for the army veteran’s unfortunate suicide. As BJP, Congress and AAP level serious allegations against each other, we take a look at what they have done on OROP.

Congress

- In 1973, Indira Gandhi discontinued an earlier form of the OROP with the 3rd pay Commission structure. The Commission cut military pensions from 70% of last salary to 50%.

- In 1979, FM Bahuguna hiked basic pay of serving soldiers by merging a portion of the basic pay to the DA. Thus, the first disparity between pensioners who had retired before and after 1979 crept in.

- In 1984, MoS Defence K.P. Singh Deo committee presented a 160-page report with a list of 69 recommendations to Indira Gandhi. Word OROP first used in this report.

- OROP periodically resurfaced in the 4th (1987) and 5th (1997) Pay commissions but nothing was done.

- The Congress had promised OROP in its poll manifesto in 2004.

- In 2008, the UPA government rejected the OROP demand, after which ex-servicemen returned their gallantry medals to the President and made open overtures towards the BJP.

- In Sept 2012, the UPA govt announced an annual Rs 2,300 crore additional pension package for ex-servicemen but stopped short of granting them full OROP.

- UPA 2 government announced the implementation of OROP in the interim budget of 2014-15 and allotted Rs.500 crore for it.

- On Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi was detained twice by Delhi Police amid protests over ex-soldier’s suicide.

BJP

- BJP’s 2009 poll manifesto promised the “principle of one rank, one pension.”

- Party’s 2014 Lok Sabha poll manifesto promised, “Implement one rank, one pension.”

- BJP’s PM candidate Narendra Modi at an election rally demanded a white paper on the status of 'one rank, one pension' scheme.

- FM Jaitley announced an allocation of Rs 1000 crore for OROP in his first budget speech.

- In Sept 2015 Modi government announced the implementation of the OROP scheme with caveats after three months long protests by the veterans.

- On April 6 this year Union Cabinet chaired by the PM Modi ex-post facto approved implementation of One Rank One Pension. The protesting veterans welcomed just one of the seven provisions announced by the government.

AAP

- In August 2015, Kejriwal attacked PM Modi ridiculing him over his package for poll-bound Bihar, and said he should instead implement the 'One Rank One Pension' scheme for the ex-servicemen.

- On Nov 2, Arvind Kejriwal was detained when they tried to visit the family of ex-serviceman Ram Kishan Grewal, who allegedly committed suicide over OROP.

- On Thursday, Kejriwal announced Rs 1 crore for family of ex-serviceman Ram Kishan Grewal.