LATEST ON THE OROP COMMITTEE MEETINGS - BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE.

(source : via e-mail from TSEWA)

TEARS IN MY EYES AS I READ THIS STORY

A very poor newly wedded, young couple lived in a small farm. One day the husband made the following proposal to his wife:

Honey, I will leave the house: I will travel faraway, get a job and work hard in order to come back and give you the comfortable life that you deserve. I do not know how long I will stay away, I only ask one thing, please wait for me, and while I am away, you should be faithful to me, because I will be faithful to you. His wife agreed, so the young man left. He walked many days until he found a farmer who was in need of someone to help him. 

The young man offered his services. He was accepted. Therefore he discussed the terms with his boss:

Let me work for as long as I want and when I think I should go home, please relieve me of my duties. I do not want to receive my salary. I ask you to save it for me, until the day I leave. The day I decide to go, please give me the money and I will go my way. They agreed on that. So, the young man worked for twenty years without holiday and without rest. After twenty years, he came to his boss and said:

Boss, I want my money, because I am returning to my home. The boss replied:

All right, after all, I made a deal with you and I will stick to it. However, before you go I want to offer you something new: I will give you all your money and send you away; or I will give you 3 pieces of advice and send you away. 

If I give you money, you lose the 3 pieces of advice. 

If I give you the 3 pieces of advice, you lose the money. 

Now, go to your room and think about your answer. 

He thought for two days. Then he went to the boss and told him:

I want the 3 pieces of advice. 

The boss stressed again, if I give you the 3 pieces of advice, I will not give you the money, and the man replied:

I want the 3 pieces of advice.

The boss then told him:

No. 1: Never take shortcuts in your life, shorter and unknown paths can cost your life. 

No. 2: Never be too curious, for curiosity towards evil can be deadly. 

No. 3: Never make decisions in moments of anger or pain, because when you repent, it could be too late. 

After giving these 3 pieces of advice, the boss said to him:

Here, you have 3 loaves of bread, 2 are for you to eat during the journey and the last is for you to eat with your wife when you get home. 

So, the man went his way, after twenty years away from home and from his wife, whom he loved so much. After the first day of travel, he found a man who greeted him and asked:

Where are you going?

He replied:

To a distant place which is about 20 days away if I continue walking. 

The man said to him: Oh boy, this path is too long! I know a shortcut that is very safe and you will arrive in 5 days only. 

The man began to follow the path suggested until he remembered the first piece of advice. Then, he returned and followed the long path. Days later he learned that the shortcut led to an ambush.

After a few more days of travel, he found an inn by the roadside, where he could rest. He paid for a room and after taking a bath he lay down to sleep. During the night he woke up as he heard a terrifying scream. He rose to his feet and went to the door to check what happened. As he was opening the door, he remembered the second piece of advice. Therefore he returned, lay down again and slept. 

At dawn, after breakfast, the owner of the lodging asked him if he had not heard the scream at night. He affirmed that he heard. 

Then, the host said: Were you not curious to see what happened? 

And he replied: No, I was not.

Then the host said: You are the first guest to leave this inn alive. My neighbour is completely crazy. He usually shouts at night to call someone’s attention. When some of the guests come out, he kills them and buries their bodies in the backyard. 

The man continued his long journey, eager to arrive soon.

After many days and nights walking, he was very tired, but he finally saw his house far away. It was night. He saw some light coming out of the window of his house and was able to see the silhouette of his wife. But he also saw that she was not alone. He came closer and saw there was a man with her. She softly caressed his hair. When he saw that scene, his heart was filled with hatred and bitterness. He decided to rush at and kill them both mercilessly. However, he took a deep breath and he remembered the third piece of advice. Then he stopped, reflected and decided to sleep outside that night. He slept in the midst of the bushes, determined to make a decision the next day. 

At dawn, he was calmer and thought: I will not kill my wife and her lover. I am going back to my boss to ask him to take me back. 

But before I go, I want to tell my wife that I have always been faithful to her.

He went to the front door and knocked. When his wife opened the door and recognized him, she cried and embraced him warmly. He tried to push her away, but he was not able. 

Then, with tears in his eyes he told her: I was faithful to you but you betrayed me.

She was shocked, so she replied: How did I betray you? I have never betrayed you. I waited patiently for you for twenty good years. 

Then he asked:How about the man that you were caressing yesterday?

And she said: That man is your son. When you left, I discovered I was pregnant. Today he is twenty years old. 

Hearing that, the man asked her forgiveness. He met and hugged his son. 

Then he told them all the things he had experienced while away. 

Meanwhile, his wife prepared some coffee for them to eat together, the last bread given by his boss.

After a prayer of thanksgiving, he broke the bread. When he looked at it, he found all his money inside. In fact, there was even more than the right payment for his twenty years of dedication and hard work.

Friends, our God is like this boss. 

When he asks us to make a sacrifice, he wants to give us more than what we give Him. He wants us to have His unique wisdom as well as the material blessings. 

(Source : Via e-mail from BHARATH BHUSHAN GHAI, Retd AFs officer)

ONE RANK ONE PENSION (OROP) & ISSUES OF CONCERN OF DEFENCE VETERANS NEEDING URGENT RESOLUTION

Dated:  02 Nov 2019

ONE RANK ONE PENSION (OROP) & ISSUES OF CONCERN OF DEFENCE VETERANS NEEDING URGENT RESOLUTION

Dear Veterans,

     Letter to Members of Parliament on the above subject dated 02 Nov 2019 is enclosed herewith for your information widest circulation please.

.

With Regards,

Jai Hind,

Yours Sincerely,

Maj Gen Satbir Singh, SM (Retd), Advisor United Front of Ex Servicemen &Chairman Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement (IESM)                                                                            Mobile: 9312404269,01244110570          Email:satbirsm@gmail.com -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 .......................................................... 

Dated:  02 Nov 2019

ONE RANK ONE PENSION (OROP) & ISSUES OF CONCERN OF DEFENCE VETERANS NEEDING URGENT RESOLUTION

Dear Members of Parliament,

 1.      We wish to bring to your notice that long pending demand of defence fraternity of OROP has not yet been implemented. Hon’ble Prime Minister and President of BJP Sh. JP Nadda have time and again stated at various forums that OROP has been implemented.  With grievously hurt feelings and anguish, we wish to inform you that such statements by our Hon’ble Prime Minister are of serious concern to us.  Had the OROP been implemented as per the definition stated by MoS Sh. Rao Inderjit Singh on 02 Dec 2014 in the parliament, the Ex Servicemen would not have been on the road across the country protesting for the non-implementation of OROP.  On 31 Oct 2019, Ex Servicemen have completed 1600 days of continuous Protest Movement executed peacefully with dignity, respect and in the best traditions of soldiering.

2.      There are serious anomalies in the Govt of India Min of Def Notification No 12 (I)/2014/D (Pen/Pol)-part –II dated 07 Nov 2015 wherein the Govt is purported to have implemented OROP.  The serious anomalies have been brought to the Notice of the Govt on numerous occasions, but these anomalies have not yet been rectified.  Ex-servicemen were forced to approach Hon’ble Supreme Court for grant of full OROP.  Hon’ble Supreme Court in its order dated 01 May 2019 (copy attached).  Asked the MoD to resolve the anomalies to the extent possible and the next date of hearing was to take place on 06 Aug 2019.  However, the Hon’ble judge hearing the case was busy in hearing Ram Mandir Case and our OROP case hearing was not listed.

3.      In the meantime we had a meeting with Hon’ble Raksha Mantri on 01 Jul 2019 and briefed him about Hon’ble Supreme Court order and requested for the rectification of the OROP anomalies. Hon’ble Raksha Mantri assured us for another meeting after a few days for the resolution of OROP anomalies; however, that meeting has not taken place even after writing to Hon’ble Raksha Mantri a number of times. 

4.      During an Election Rally at Chandigarh President of BJP Sh. JP Nadda stated that his Govt had implemented OROP.  The same was denied by Ex-servicemen bodies. To add to our hurt feelings, Hon’ble Prime Minister on 19 Oct 2019 at Rewari in another Election Rally, again stated that his Govt had implemented OROP.  We wish to inform that this is far from truth.  OROP has not been implemented; what has been implement is One Time increase in Pension.  Unless the OROP anomalies are rectified, grant of Full OROP will remain unfulfilled.

5.       We also wish to inform you that equalization of pensions of defence personnel was due with effect from 01 Jul 2019 as per Govt Notification dated 07 Nov 2015, but the same has not yet been carried out. The Govt which had issued the notification has not honored its own order of equalization of Pensions after every five years which became due with effect from 01 Jul 2019. We had through a letter dated 03 Sep 2019 written to Hon’ble Raksha Mantri, copy to Hon’ble Prime Minister and three Chiefs and also forwarded the same letter to Secretary (ESW) requesting for immediate equalization of pensions as notified in Govt Notification dated 07 Nov 2015. MoD, instead of implementing equalization of pensions, ordered another committee whose recommendations have not been made public. The outcome of another, “One Man Judicial Committee (OMJC)” which submitted its report to the Govt on 26 Oct 2016 headed by Justice L. Narasimha Reddy, retired Chief Justice of Patna High Court has neither been made public nor implemented.

6.      We appeal to our elected representative, Hon’ble Members of Parliament to raise our issues of concern in the coming winter session and ask the Govt to grant Full OROP to the defence personnel, a demand which is long pending, though it had been accepted by both NDA and UPA Govts but not yet implemented. Our Hon’ble Member of Parliament, with anguish we wish to say that “any country which does not respect its soldiers is doomed to fail”.

Please grant Justice to Soldiers.

With Regards,

Jai Hind,

Yours Sincerely,

Maj Gen Satbir Singh, SM (Retd), Advisor United Front of Ex Servicemen & Chairman Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement (IESM)                                                                              Mobile: 9312404269, 01244110570                                      Email:satbirsm@gmail.com (Source Via e-mail)