One rank one pension: Army chief reassures veterans in home state
CHANDIGARH: Indian Army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag on Saturday “revived the promise” to implement one rank one pension (OROP), a long-awaited demand of the ex-servicemen fraternity. General Suhag, who was in his home district, Jhajjar in Haryana, to address a massive rally of veterans on Saturday, however, did not mention any deadline for its implementation.
“The armed forces’ veterans long-standing demand of one rank one pension will be acceded to very shortly and implemented with retrospective effect from April 1, 2014,” said General Dalbir.
He said that in view of the hardships faced by the soldiers in the discharge of their duties, he has sought a handsome hike in there pay and allowances from the Prime Minister. However, he ruled out the possibilities of exempting the veterans from income tax as it would be violating the principal of parity.
More than 20,000 veterans from districts including Jhajjar, Jind, Bhiwani, Rohtak, Rewari, Hisar, Fatehabad, Sirsa and Mahendergarh attended the event called “Veer Senani Rally”. The event was organized for on-the-spot resolution of grievances of the veterans.
Gen Suhag hails from Bishan village in Jhajjar. His parents, Ram Phal Suhag and Ishri Devi, still reside in the ancestral home. It was Gen Dalbir’s first public rally in his home district, which has a substantial number of soldiers in the armed forces.
Addressing the rally, Gen Suhag added that they had tied up with the skilled development ministry for ensuring employment to Army retirees in public and private sectors. In addition, operation of mobile medical check up and CSD vans had been enhanced so that medical facilities and CSD services could be made available to veterans at their doorstep.
Special hospitals for veterans
While interacting with the veterans, General Dalbir Singh told them that he was working on a proposal to set-up military hospitals dedicated to veterans only. He also said that a special veteran cell would be setup exclusively to provide instant care to veterans in military hospitals across the country
Defence minister reiterates assurance
On Friday, Union defence minister Manohar Parikkar had also reassured to implement the OROP in Lok Sabha and said that it would be done on finalization of modalities by the government. The minister had also not mentioned any deadline for fulfilling the main demand of around three million veterans of the country. Parikkar said this while responding to specific queries
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