Page 35 - NIS English 01-15 November 2022

Nation
One Rank, One Pension Nation
One Rank, One Pension

A former soldier from Ladakh told me that he had spent
his life in the army, and he is getting a pucca house only
after our government came to power. It has been 30-40
years since he retired. The military family understands
our sensitivity very well. It is our government that
implemented 'One Rank, One Pension' after a wait of four
decades. We gave arrears to our ex-servicemen. Every
family of Himachal has benefited a lot from this.
- Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

in 2015. This issue found mention in the President's LONG-STANDING DEMAND
address to both the Houses of Parliament on OF FOUR DECADES FULFILLED
09.06.2014. After the constitution of the 16th Lok
Sabha, Rs 1000 crore was allocated in the budget The demand for OROP, pending for almost four
of 2014-15 for the implementation of One Rank, decades, has been fulfilled.
One Pension. Several meetings were held for the The decision to implement OROP was taken
on 7 November 2015 which came into effect
purpose of implementing One Rank, One Pension from 1 July 2014. It also covered Armed Forces
in which the government extensively consulted with personnel who retired as of 30 June 2014.
experts and ex-servicemen. The deliberations were Equal pension to soldiers retiring in the same rank
held keeping in view the scope and complexities of with the same duration of service, regardless
Defense Pension before issuing the Government of the date of retirement. A total of 20.60 lakh
Order. Armed Forces pensioners/family pensioners
Prior to the introduction of One Rank, One have been given arrears of Rs.10,795.4 crore as
Pension, the soldier who retired earlier, received a benefit of pension under the 7th pay commission.
lower pension than the soldiers who retired after CENTRAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTED TO
him.
This used to happen as the pension given by CONTINUE THE SCHEME
the government depends on the final salary of the According to the central government,
employee and the salary of the employees used an amount of Rs 50,000 crore has been
disbursed under 'One Rank, One Pension'
to be increased from time to time based on the (OROP) till July 2022 and Prime Minister
recommendations of the Pay Commission. Narendra Modi is committed to continue
Thus, a lieutenant general retiring in 1995 this pension scheme.
received less pension than a colonel retiring after A special Defence Pension Grievance
2006. Redressal Portal has been launched
Before the year 1973, there was no dispute of for speedy redressal of pension-related
any kind regarding 'One Rank, One Pension', but with grievances of ex-servicemen and their
the adoption of the Third Pay Commission report in dependents.
the year 1973, the erstwhile form of 'One Rank, One An amount of Rs 398.18 crore was
disbursed as financial assistance to
Pension' was abolished. 1,84,198 ex-servicemen/dependents during
With the implementation of the recommendations the financial year 2021-22.
of the Sixth Pay Commission, the issue of 'One Till the first term of Prime Minister Narendra
Rank, One Pension' was almost forgotten, but Modi i.e. 2019, OROP resulted in up to 40
when the recommendations of this commission percent increase in pension and up to 55
were implemented, the pension gap among the ex- percent increase in the salary of military
servicemen widened even more. personnel as compared to 2014.

New India Samachar November 1-15, 2022 33