NEW DELHI: India’s Narendra Modi-led government has failed to live up to its promise of providing relief to retired military officers and troops under the ‘One Rank One Pension’ (OROP) scheme after securing votes from them during the previous election campaigns.
Modi, while campaigning for the 2013 elections, in Haryana and later addressing soldiers in Siachen in 2014 promised to address the concerns of retired Indian soldiers with regard to the OROP scheme – a longstanding demand of the Indian armed forces and veterans.
But Modi put the plans in a cold storage after coming into power with a large number of retired jawans still waiting to receive benefits of the OROP. Thousands of former officers and troops, including retired four-star General Vijay Kumar Singh, voted Modi, who, after winning the elections in 2014 started using delaying tactics to fulfil the promise.
After their demands were rejected, former troops staged countrywide protests against the BJP government in 2015, during which they faced severe torture at the hands of police.
Ten former army chiefs of India later wrote to Modi, condemning the brutality against the retired soldiers and demanding the formation of an investigation commission to probe the incident.
In 2016, Subedar Ram Kishan Grewal committed suicide due to rejection of their demands. Meanwhile, more than 5,000 retired Indian military personnel returned their medals and awards in protest, but Modi did not bat an eye.
The BJP-led government scheme on December 23, 2022 approved a revision bill despite clear orders from the country’s top court against it. With the approval of the bill, 40 percent of the defence budget will go to pensions only, according to the government.
However, the legislation was widely rejected by the retired military officers who are still protesting to receive their dues.
