New Delhi: Unhappy over the prolonged delay by the government in setting a timeframe for “One-Rank-One-Pension”, the veterans decided to boycott the start of the golden jubilee celebrations of the 1965 war with Pakistan Friday.
Much to the disappointment of the protesting ex-servicemen, defence minister Manohar Parrikar said “small gaps” are still required to be filled to implement OROP and that the PMO was “directly involved” in finding a solution.
On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid rich tribute to the brave Indian soldiers who fought in the 1965 war, saying they had triumphed over every obstacle to protect India’s unity and integrity.
“The government is working to fill in the small gaps and the PMO is directly involved” in dealing with the OROP issue, Mr Parrikar said on Friday. He also sought some time to resolve the issue.
“Now small gaps are being filled. Give it some time... In principle, the Prime Minister on August 15 has given his approval. Now, the PMO is directly involved... not help... All efforts are being made to solve the issue,” he said.
But Mr Parrikar’s statement did not go down well with the protesting ex-servicemen, who said that they were “disheartened”. They are also seeking an appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
An ex-servicemen’s team met home minister Rajnath Singh on Friday and urged him to convince the government to implement OROP as soon as possible. The delegation gave a detailed presentation to the home minister, who told the ex-servicemen the government had in principle accepted their demand, and work was on to find a solution, but this needed some time, sources said.
Expressing their anguish, Maj. Gen. Satbir Singh Retd), one of the leaders of the protest movement, said, “What Raksha Mantri (defence minister) said... I’m rather disheartened. He is now saying there are gaps. He cannot say anything that is totally different than what was told to us all these days. Whatever they have finally offered is not acceptable. What was told to us is not close to what was decided.”
