DELAY IN ISSUANCE OF OROP IMPLEMENTATION LETTER CAUSE FOR CONCERN

30 July 2014

 

Sh Arun Jaitley

Defence Minister, Govt of India

South Block, Ministry of Defence

New Delhi 

 

 

DELAY IN ISSUANCE OF OROP IMPLEMENTATION LETTER

CAUSE FOR CONCERN

 

Dear Sh Arun Jaitley 

 

 

1.    Please refer to the meeting of IESM delegation with you on 16 July 14 and the reaction of veteran community about the outcome of the meeting. Please also refer to my letter dated 19 July 2014. 

 

2.    IESM delegation did feel a hint of broken promise during the meeting. However, IESM issued a very measured but positive statement of the outcome of the meeting. Veterans are intelligent and they read in between the lines and reacted strongly about the outcome of the meeting. It will be important to mention here that the Veterans’ family is seriously concerned that various political parties after forming the Government in the past had not kept their promises made pre elections and because of this they have lost confidence in Politicians and bureaucrats. Bureaucrats took advantage of their proximity to politicians and improved their salaries and perks as compared to Armed Forces Personnel and veterans. Bureaucrats pension has been increased 108 times and that of Military veterans only 45 times since 1973, is an example of this bias.  

 

3.    The discussions during the meeting with you on 16 July confirm our suspicion that even though the principle of OROP has been approved by UPA and NDA Government but the implementation letter is being strongly resisted by the bureaucracy. It is intriguing that Secretary DESW has confirmed to Koshyari Committee in 2011 that the expenses for OROP have been calculated by CGDA to be only Rs 3000 crores. If we take into account inflation of 10% per year for three years the expenditure on OROP will not be more than Rs 4000 crores.Army Hq pay cells has calculated the exp to be approx Rs 5000/crores. CGDA stating a figure of Rs 9000 crore, at this stage, confirms our suspicion that bureaucracy is inflating to derail the OROP. It is pertinent to mention that once the OROP with its accepted definition has been approved by the Govt, It needs to be implemented as such, what ever be the requirement of funds. The same was also mentioned in the minutes of the meeting held on 26 Feb 2014 chaired by the then RM Shri  AK Antony.These minutes are part of the Govt order for the issue of Implementation letter of OROP. 

 

4. Veteran community was very unhappy with UPA Govt because they neglected demands of ex-serviceman since independence. Ex-servicemen were very annoyed and declared openly that they will not vote for UPA in elections. UPA Govt approved OROP towards the fag end of their tenure but veterans realized that this is bogey being played by UPA Govt as a desperate measure to lure 4 crore votes of ex-servicemen. Sh Raj Nath Singh as BJP President had promised to give OROP and Sh Narendra Modi as PM candidate of BJP in various rallies confirmed that full OROP would be given to ex-servicemen. Mr Narendra Modi as PM has reaffirmed his resolve to give full OROP to veterans while dedicating INS Vikramaditya to Nation. I think the result of election were obvious, ex-servicemen did not vote for UPA and voted en-block for BJP. It is evident that this block voting by ex-servicemen has changed the result of at least 150 constituencies in favour of BJP and gave full majority to BJP. 

 

5.  Delay of more than five months in issuance of implementation letter for OROP is cause of concern. Goodwill of veterans earned by BJP is slowly eroding. Optimism of veterans is slowly turning into desperation. I cannot say with certainty that the victory of Cong candidates in three by-elections in Uttrakhand is because of loss of confidence of veterans in BJP, but this could be one of the factors in defeat of BJP candidates. 

 

6.     Veterans’ family is very hopeful that BJP would fulfill its election promises and. would soon issue implementation letter for OROP as per approved definition. The pensions of the current retirees as on 01 Apr 2014 are to be  passed on to all the past pensioners and any future enhancements in the rate of pensions are to be automatically passed on to the past pensioners.  This definition must not be allowed to be diluted in any way since the same is non negotiable. 

 

7.   IESM requests for a meeting with you at the earliest to discuss issuance of implementation order for OROP. IESM requests for appointment at 1200h on 5 Aug 14 or 6 Aug 14. Please confirm acceptance of the meeting. In case these dates are not suitable IESM delegation would be glad to come for a meeting on any date and time of your convenience. IESM would be eagerly waiting for a confirmation from your office. 

 

 

With Regards,

 

Maj Gen (Retd) Satbir Singh,SM

Chairman IESM

Tele No 0124-4110570 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 0124-4110570 FREE  end_of_the_skype_highlighting,09312404269begin_of_the_skype_highlighting          09312404269 FREE  end_of_the_skype_highlighting

Email : satbrism@gmail.com 

 

 

 

 

 

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