M A I N   N E W S

Nod to one rank-one pension
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 17
In election mode, the Congress-led UPA Government today formally announced the much-awaited one rank-one pension (OROP) scheme for retired soldiers, benefiting some 46 lakh families of retired and serving servicemen in the Army, the Navy and the Indian Air Force.

Sources said the decision was based on ground realities. BJP’s prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi has been critical of the delay in announcing one rank-one pension scheme. It would have figured prominently in the BJP manifesto. “A lot of thinking has gone into this and it was decided that it was worth taking the step”, a functionary explained.

Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram, while presenting the interim budget for the year 2014-15, today said: “The government has accepted the principle of one rank-one pension for the defence forces. The decision will be implemented prospectively from the financial year 2014-15. Officials said the formula had been accepted and the pensions would be revised accordingly. The hike would be anything between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000 per month.

The formula for OROP is: “Uniform pension to be paid to the defence forces personnel retiring at the same rank with the same length of service, irrespective of their date of retirement, and that any future enhancement in the rates of pension be automatically passed on to the past pensioners.”

At present, there are two groups of the retirees -- the ones who retired before January 1, 2006 and the ones who retired after this date. Pensions vary and in some cases senior officers get lesser pensions than their juniors. A Colonel, who retired before the January 1, 2006 gets a pension of Rs 26, 050 while a Colonel retiring in 2014 gets Rs 34,000.

Chidambaram added, “The requirement for 2014-15 is estimated at Rs 500 crore and I propose to transfer a sum of Rs 500 crore to the Defence Pension Account in the current financial year itself.”

This could mean that retired soldiers and the widows could get increased pensions even before the forthcoming polls. There are some 24 lakh retired soldiers, 6 lakh widows of former soldiers and a serving force of about 16 lakh personnel.

Top MoD officials explained, “This is based on the forecast made by the ministry and without any estimates. Hence, Rs 500 crore is a provisional allocation. The contours of the scheme will be worked out over the next few weeks and more money will be given”.

The sum announced in the Budget today falls short of the projected Rs 1,300 crore by the Ministry of Finance to the Rajya Sabha Committee on Petitions.

Maj General Satbir Singh (retd), Vice-Chairman of the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement, said, “If the government has accepted the formula of OROP, we welcome the step. However, it must explain Budget allocation.”

The formula

• Uniform pension to be paid to defence personnel retiring at the same rank with the same length of service, irrespective of their date of retirement. Any future enhancement in pension to be automatically passed on to the past pensioners

The anomaly

• At present, there are two groups of retirees — those who retired before January 1, 2006 and others who retired thereafter
• Pensions vary. In some cases senior officers get lesser pension than their juniors
• The pension of a Colonel, who retired before January 1, 2006 is Rs 26,050
• A Colonel, who retired in 2014, draws a pension of Rs 34,000
• The decision will be implemented prospectively from 2014-15