In a marathon address to the nation from the ramparts of Red Fort, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday underlined India's unity and diversity and said the poison of casteism and communal frenzy have no place in the country.
"According to us, there is nothing but bad intention of the bureaucracy and it is given to them by the political system which is holding it now," Singh said.
However, the protesting ex-servicemen reacted sharply. "I am sorry, principle was accepted 17 months ago and he has also accepted it. I want to ask the Prime Minister, what is holding the implementation of OROP," questioned Maj Gen Satbir Singh (
The Prime Minister said that talks are being held with the stakeholders to work out the nitty-gritty and modalities. "We have to move forward by talking," he said.
"A solution has to be found for an issue which has been lingering for 20-25 years. I expect good news seeing the way the talks are going on. And that is why I again promise that in-principle, this government has accepted OROP," he said.
He said that the issue has reached the last stages and the aim is complete development of country and justice to all.
Modi stressed, it was not just him promising but the 1.25 crore people strong 'Team India' under the shadow of the tricolour, from the ramparts of the Lal Qila.
"Every government has even given small promises but the issue has not been resolved. Even after I came, I have not been able to do it till now. Today, I am assuring my soldiers once again... in-principle OROP has been accepted by us but talks with
Pointing out that many governments have come and gone for years and the OROP issue came before each one of them, Modi said the OROP has been in-principle accepted by his government but talk are still on with various stakeholders.
He reiterated that the government has in-principle accepted the demand for OROP. Terming the soldiers as a strength, treasure and energy of the country, Modi accepted that despite his coming to power, the solution for the long-delayed OROP issue has
Much to the disappointment of protesting ex-servicemen, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday did not give a specific timeline for the implementation of 'One Rank One Pension', even as he stressed that talks were in final stages to work out the
He questioned the practice of "interviews" for recruitments even at relatively junior levels and asked departments concerned to end this practice at the earliest and promote merit by recruiting only through transparent, online processes.
The Prime Minister also promised to do away with the current practice of interview-based selections for low-skilled government jobs.
The initiative, he said, will give a new dimension to entrepreneurship and help set up a network of start-ups in the country.
Under this, in addition to existing systems to facilitate start-ups, he said loans would also be given to help people.
The initiative, he said, will encourage entrepreneurship among the youth of India. Each of the 1.25 lakh bank branches should encourage at least one Dalit or tribal entrepreneur and at least one woman entrepreneur.
Addressing the nation on the 69th Independence Day, he said, "We are looking at systems for enabling start-ups. We must be number one in start-ups... Start-up India; Stand up India."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a new campaign "Start-up India, Stand up India" to promote bank financing for start-ups and offer incentives to boost entrepreneurship and job creation.
During the 85-minute address, he talked about the much-anticipated 'One-Rank, One-Pension', saying the government has "in-principle accepted" it and he was hopeful of a positive outcome of the ongoing discussions which are in the "last stage".
He spoke about a number of initiatives to end corruption and bring transparency and proposed doing away with the practice of interview for small jobs, contending that this becomes a route for corruption.
Responding to opposition criticism that nothing is happening on the problem of black money, he said "some people love to spread pessimism" as he informed that about Rs 6500 crore of undeclared money has been disclosed during the compliance window
Modi, in his second Independence Day address, focussed largely on the issue of corruption and asserted that the steps taken by his government over the last 15 months to deal with the "termite" had started yielding results.
Narendra Modi addresses the nation on 69th Independence Day