OROP row: Ex-servicemen intensify protest, seek appointment with President

Ex-servicemen are intensifying their protests against the government notification on One Rank, One Pension scheme. A days after a group of defence veterans burnt their gallantry medals at Jantar Mantar and tried to march to Rashtrapati Bhawan, they are now writing to the President seeking an appointment.

Meanwhile, a 76-year-old veteran Sepoy Joginder Singh is cycling to Jantar Mantar from Gurdaspur covering nearly 500 kilometers. He will be felicitated at Jantar Mantar.

More than 2,000 war veterans returned their medals and took out a march to Rashtrapati Bhawan, saying a "diluted" OROP scheme was not acceptable.

"A protest march was taken out from Jantar Mantar to Rashtrapati Bhavan against the diluted OROP scheme," said a spokesperson of the ex-servicemen's front.

He said retired military personnel will try to meet President Pranab Mukherjee and returned him their gallantry and other medals.

Delhi Police, however, stopped the protest march before it could reach Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Some protesters also tried to burn their medals but were stopped by the other members.

Group Captain VK Gandhi (retired), general secretary of the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement, said they were fighting for their rights and a "diluted" OROP scheme was not acceptable.

"The OROP scheme was cleared by Parliament. Then why were the changes made in the scheme? Why did they put conditions?" Gandhi asked, and accused the government of cheating them.

The veterans listed seven changes made by the government, including annual equalisation, the 2013-14 financial year as the base year for calculating pension, and taking the highest pension scale of 2013 as the base for calculation and not the average as announced by the government.

The new scheme also said it will be reviewed once in five years and not annually.

Gandhi said the veterans demanded reconsideration of the changes made by the government in implementation of the OROP scheme.

Earlier, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said the ex-servicemen protesting against the OROP notification were "misguided".

He said that while everyone had a right to make a demand in a democracy, not all demands can be fulfilled.

Defending the government, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Siddharth Nath Singh said, "We should not forget for 40 years there was no OROP. It was promised but not delivered, but our government delivered it. If there's any issue left, the committee will look into it and resolve it. Our request is they should give the government a chance."