Ex-servicemen to intensify OROP protest

New Delhi, Aug. 15 (ANI): The ex-servicemen, who are protesting over the implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP) at Jantar Mantar, said on Saturday that they would intensify their agitation.

Major General (retd.) Satbir Singh said that bureaucracy is the main obstacle in the implementation of OROP.

“This is not about hope, this is our right. This is injustice, it has already been 17 months, what is stopping the government…The bureaucracy does not want that it is given to soldiers…We will intensify the agitation,” he said.

Wing Commander CK Sharma echoed similar views and said that they would embark on ‘protest until death’.

“For a Prime Minister to stand on ramparts of Red Fort and say such a blatant lie is something we did not expect…Our protest will be upgraded. We will embark on ‘amaran anshan’ ( protest till death) now,” he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said during his Independence Day address that the decision on the OROP Scheme would be taken soon.

“I am saying in front of the tri-colour that the government has accepted the pending demand of OROP. Talks are going on, and very soon, a decision would be reached. Discussions have come to the final leg. We are finding a solution, and I am hoping for a positive result,” he said at Red Fort.

One Rank, One Pension ( OROP) scheme has been a long-standing demand of nearly three-million ex-servicemen and war widows in the country. It seeks to ensure that a uniform pension is paid to defence personnel, who retire at the same rank with the same length of service irrespective of their date of retirement. (ANI)