OROP : AN UPDATE ON OROP : The प्रिन्सिपलेड position of Govt on orop. ......

The  प्रिन्सिपलेड   position of Govt on orop. ......

            
                                      अंग्रेजी  का सिक्सर  पर सिक्सर   

                        प्रिंसिपल के उप्पर प्रिंसिपल                       

The principle which implements OROP we are committed to it but it has to be based on some principles," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.
 

The principle which implements OROP we are

Committed to it but it has to be based on some

principles," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said. (PTI)

The  प्रिन्सिपलेड   position of Govt on orop. ......

An update on OROP.

Must read for all those concerned about this national issue.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/pro-bjp-think-tank-vivekananda-international-foundation-skewers-government-on-one-rank-one-pension/articleshow/48535125.cms

Pro-BJP think tank Vivekananda International Foundation skewers government on ‘One Rank One Pension’ 

Manu Pubby

19 August 2015

New Delhi

In a potentially embarrassing situation for the government, the director and three top military board members of Bharatiya Janata Party-leaning think tank Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) have come out strongly against the government for dragging its feet on 'One Rank One Pension'.

Leading the charge is former Army chief NC Vij, who took over as VIF director after Ajit Doval assumed charge as the national security adviser.

Gen Vij is one of the signatories to the strongly worded letter by ex-Army chiefs to the PM earlier this week. "It (OROP) was accepted by the United Progressive Alliance and the present government has also promised it," he told ET.

"The PM himself has announced it (OROP) four times, starting at Rewari (before 2014 general elections) and just now on Independence Day. Wish he had stated a timeline when it would be implemented," Gen Vij told ET.

VIF, it may be noted, has considerable clout within the government. Both NSA Ajit Doval and Principal Secretary to PM Nripendra Misra were associated with the think tank before taking up their current assignments.

The foundation was the hub of BJP-backed anti-corruption movement against the UPA government, and helped provide a platform to stitch up an alliance with Baba Ramdev.

Several VIF members now hold important positions in the government, including former Defence Research & Development Organisation chief VK Saraswat, who is now a Niti Aayog member, and Prasar Bharati Chairman A Surya Prakash.

Former Air chief S Krishnaswamy, who is on the powerful advisory board of the think tank, has not signed the letter but voiced concern on the situation going out of hand.

He urged the government to at least establish a channel of communication with the protesting veterans. "The PM is meeting everyone. So why not meet the veterans? The decision maker needs to communicate and tell them what is being planned," he told ET.

Among other prominent members of the VIF advisory board who have written to the prime minister on the matter are former Army chiefs Shankar Roychowdhury and VN Sharma.

UNPRECEDENTED EVENTS

Gen Vij, who retired from service in 2005, said the events of August 14 — a clash between policemen and veterans — were unprecedented and have hurt the dignity of the soldier. Most ex-servicemen have relatives who are serving in the armed forces, he said. "They are naturally affected by all this. In today's environment, everyone is watching, including the serving soldier."

Krishnaswamy recalled the Air Force crisis of 1997, when protests on pay parity spilled on to the streets, with officers holding protest marches against higher salaries for fighter pilots. "It (1997) was a very serious situation. The opponents of our country were thrilled to see the morale of the services going down," he said.

On Tuesday, a day after 10 former chiefs wrote a letter of protest to the PM, a reachout came from the PMO with Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra meeting a delegation of ex-servicemen.

Though there was headway at the talks, a decision was taken to continue the process and more meetings could take place, said sources.

Meanwhile, Home Minister Rajnath Singh directed Delhi Police to apologise on Tuesday for roughing up veterans at the OROP protest venue on August 14. Singh directed the city police commissioner to reach out to the agitators and depute a senior official to issue an apology. As a result, Joint Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) MK Meena met the veterans and apologised .

At Jantar Mantar, where a protest has been on for over two months, three veterans are now on fast unto death demanding implementation of OROP. Officials of the United Front of Ex-Servicemen said efforts were on to dissuade them amid signs of a government reachout.

With its back against the wall, the government is relying heavily on established institutional channels through Army Chief Gen Dalbir Singh to work a way out of the logjam. In fact, the Army chief was the one who arranged the meeting between the veterans and Misra, sources said.

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RELATED PLEASE :

No OROP, no retreat: Veterans vow they won't back down until Modi sarkar relents

Tarique Anwar

19 August 2015

Upset over the Prime Minister not announcing a date for the implementation of the One Rank One Pension scheme, two war veterans who were on a relay hunger strike for the past 64 days are now on an indefinite fast unto death and say they won't relent until the government gives in to their demands.

“My entire family is standing with me. I am blessed to have their support. Even my granddaughter rang me up from United States yesterday and told me, ‘Nana (maternal grandfather)...we saw you on TV and we are proud of you.’” Colonel (retired) Pushpender Singh told Firstpost.

http://www.firstpost.com/india/no-orop-no-retreat-veterans-say-they-wont-back-down-until-modi-sarkar-relents-2397218.html

 

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The OROP betrayal and its consequences

Maj. Gen. Ashok Mehta (retd)

19 August 2015

In a surprising U-turn — one more to the 56 turnabouts since he came to power — he said, “Even after I came into Government, I have not been able to do OROP till now. I am assuring my soldiers once again, in principle OROP has been accepted. But talks with stakeholders are on”.

The ‘talks’ bit is new.

It represents a victory for the babudom in stalling the OROP, shows how lightly the Government takes the veterans, and what little work was done by past Governments on OROP over the last 20 years and this Government for 17 months.

The capture of the vote-bank was more important than delivering on promises.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has no face to show as he has periodically given new dates for implementation of the OROP. His latest is ‘four more days’.

Similarly, other Ministers are not embarrassed revising dates.

A former Army Chief, Gen VK Singh, who ran rings around the previous Government regarding his age issue, is silent as a Minister on an issue that concerns the larger veterans’ community.

(Remember ‘duty’ and ‘disgust’?)

So is another Minister, Col Rajyavardhan Rathore.

[ COMMENT : History tells us that Bharat suffered because of

" JAICHANDS " !!! ]

The Armed Forces have suffered, since independence, at the hands of a bureaucracy, that has usurped civilian control of the military from politicians — the hallmark of plural democracy.

This frees politicians for the one job they do best: Canvas for votes on notional promises.

Bureaucracy has systematically undermined the interests of the Armed Forces from progressive dimunition of status to short-changing them on their perks and privileges.

Though some of the blame for the dilution in authority and standing has to be taken by the military for letting itself be divided and ruled. Lured by jobs as Ambassadors, Governors and members of Army tribunals, service chiefs and top military commanders have allowed the OROP to drift.

After all, today’s soldier is tomorrow’s veteran — 50,000 soldiers join the veterans’ rank every year.

The Armed Forces are a stand-alone institution incomparable with any civilian service and Central armed police forces. The bogey that ‘others’ will demand an OROP is being spread by the babus.

The veterans’ movement has been sanctified by 14 former Service chiefs, which is unprecedented.

Undoing the injustice of the last 50 years to veterans is the key.

Mr Modi’s personal credibility is at stake. Civil-military relations have reached a breaking point. Only his direct engagement with the aggrieved will avert an unprecedented crisis.

Apology for police action will be gracious.

Re-phrasing his Independence Day slogan is in order: ‘Start-up OROP; stand up veterans’.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/edit/the-orop-betrayal-and-its-consequences.html

 

OROP : WARNING VETERANS ARE DEALING WITH PROFESSIONAL NEGOTIATORS ON OROP. ONLY HARD STAND WILL WORK

OROP :  WARNING  VETERANS ARE DEALING WITH PROFESSIONAL NEGOTIATORS ON OROP. ONLY HARD STAND WILL WORK 'NO NEGOTIATIONS PLEASE.  GIVE or F**K  OFF'

                                                  - Vasundhra





Dear Colleagues,

An artful negotiator always deliberately mixes  unimportant issues with important ones in the agenda. He then uses the former as a bargaining chip while his focus stays fixed on the crunch point. The ongoing OROP parleys follow the same pattern.

 

 

 While the date of applicability and the base year involve one-time payments and are relatively less critical,

 

 the main  issue of principle is the yearly increase in pension. 

In the simplest terms, the accepted definition implies, 'old and new pensions must be equated and must be kept equated in future'. These two postulates comprise the basic principle. The term 'yearly', as it pertains to pension revision, is not our creation.

 

It was the Sixth Pay Commission that ordered salary increase of 3% every year.  

 

This being the crunch of the definition cannot be negotiable.

 

 

Any change in this postulate would mean whatever is given is not OROP but a mere enhancement in pension similar to what the UPA government also gave in their tenure. Any talk of changing this frequency to three or two years, even on the facile pretext of 'as long as a senior does not get lower pension than a junior', should be anathema.

That aberration occurred only in case of Major Generals and was related to rank pay. It has no connection to OROP. 

 

The only concession that can be made is to give the government some more time if they want, even though they have already had enough time to work on OROP. Even this time period should be spelt out in specific terms. OROP has been in progress for many decades and  another few days or weeks may not matter. Delay can be acceptable, dilution of definition must not be.

  

It needs recalling that OROP was a dormant issue till the IESM was founded in 2008. It took the IESM six years of struggle, including hunger strike, medal return, police detention, rallies, memoranda, presentations etc, to get it finally approved by the government. It was also not an easy task to get the final definition accepted and inserted in the Koshyari committee report. Thousands of veterans spread across the country, who have contributed to those efforts, and who are neither on the net nor on the social media, have their aspirations tied to OROP and are eagerly expecting the outcome. It is imperative that they do not feel betrayed.

It would be advisable to involve some JCOs/Other Ranks in the negotiating team.  Asking for raise of hands at Jantar Mantar retrospectively and conveying it as a unanimous decision of veterans should be an avoidable illusion.

I feel sad that at this critical time I cannot be in Delhi. My elder brother, Colonel Mohinder Kadyan KC, has undergone surgery to have a duodenum tumour  removed and I am with him in the US.

Lt Gen Raj Kadyan

Chairman IESM

 Advisor UFESM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OROP : SOLDIER’S PRIDE IS NATION’S SECURITY

SOURCE:

                  SOLDIER’S PRIDE IS NATION’S SECURITY

                                 By

                   Lt. Gen. PG Kamath

 

    

 

 

 

 27 August 2015

 

It was post 1971 and the nation was euphoric. Our countrymen were lauding the Indian Armed Forces for a spectacular victory that had changed the geography of the sub-continent. The nation was savouring the victory and more than 97,368 prisoners were in our Prisoners of War Camps. It was the second largest surrender in the Military History; second only to the surrender of Gen Von Paulus, German, 6th Army at Stalingrad in the Second World War. The Armed Forces were feted everywhere for its courage and the people were convinced that it was one instrument that would never let the country down.

 

 

Amidst this euphoria there were 4000 families, who had lost their fathers/sons/husbands in the war. Another 10,000 were wounded and maimed for life. They were picking up the lost threads of life to continue their journey in the forbidding world. However their sorrow was lost amidst the mirth, laughter and jubilation of victory.

 

 

Unknown to the services a band of bureaucrats were conspiring as to how to cut the Armed Forces to size. Defence Secretary was Mr K B Lal, who was literally there for the entire duration of the Third Pay Commission. He was the one, who provided the inputs to the Third Pay Commission. The Commission was constituted a year before the war and concluded two years after the war. It’s final recommendation marginalising the Armed Forces was made public two months after Fd

Marshal Manekshaw relinquished the post of Chief. Indeed it was a clever move as the most popular person in the country was not able to

take cudgels against the government. This Pay Commission cut the Armed Forces to size for winning the war for the country. Even Fd Mshl Manekshaw was not spared; more of it later. ‘Ingratitude unkinder than the winters wind’ to adopt Shakespearean phrase to an ungrateful

government. How did the Government go about the act?

 

 

Firstly they abolished a separate Pay Commission for the Armed Forces and formulated an equivalence between the Armed Forces and Civilians.

 

It was here that the Pay Commission struck its vilest blow when they considered that ‘a trained infantry soldier with three years of service is below a skilled labour. Little do they know that it is the infantry soldier who does the actual fighting and charges the enemy with naked bayonet literally on the very front edge of the battle and makes eye and steel contact with the enemy. He is the one who bears the brunt of more than 90% of casualty in all wars and yet he was considered the lowest strata to base their comparison. It also means that the infantry soldier with less than three years’ service was considered an semi-skilled/unskilled labour? Just mark the irony of the sinister and ignorant move? Rest of the soldiers were equated based on this preposterous formulae?

 

 

Next step was to reduce the percentage of pension for the Armed Forces.

The OROP that was effective till 1972, was

annulled after the third pay commission.

 

A soldier then served only for 15 years and went on pension at the ages ranging from 33 years to 36 years of age. In view of this, his pension was 70% of his basic pay and an officers pension was 50% of his basic pay as the bulk of them retired at 50 years of age. The civilian counterparts were getting only 30% of their basic pay as pension. Please note they served till they were 58 years of age (now 60 years) and the soldiers retired a quarter century earlier. The wretched Third Pay Commission did not consider the additional 25 years of service his civilian counterpart served and raised their pension to 50% and reduced a soldiers pension from 70% to 50% in order to achieve the so-called parity. Further the government put mandatory 33 years of service for full pension fully knowing that the soldier then retired after 15 years of service. They further as a largesse made a seemingly generous gesture to the Armed Forces by pegging the mandatory service for full pension (50%) to 25 years. Just look at the clever move; fully knowing that the soldier retired after 15 years of service.

 Thus the soldier in effect got only 30% of pay after 15 years of service, as extrapolated from full pension of 50% of pay with 25 years of service.

Thus the Government ingeniously cut a soldiers pension from 70% to 30% of pay at the same time enhancing the civilian pension from 30% to 50%. Look at the perfidy; how can possibly a Government run down her own Armed Forces? It is indeed a remarkable feat from a nation that was a slave nation for over two centuries, yet disregards her Armed Forces who ensure her hard earned freedom?

 

 

Our Defence Ministry were hand in glove with the proposals. There was not a whimper of protest to set right the injustice. The soldiers had to pay heavily for having won the war for the country. Their travails were not over; more was yet to come!

 

[SEE BIGGEST ENEMY OF INDIA

                                   IS MINISTRY OF DEFENCE]

 

 

One would wonder why the soldiers did not protest against the brash injustice perpetrated on them? It would be difficult to believe, as those were the times the officers in particular were told that politics and pay were not to be discussed. They were naïve and had full faith in the government that in the long run; no injustice would be done to them? The disarming naivety of our officers appear incomprehensible now; but it was true then. Hence the entire master stroke of cutting the armed forces to size by impoverishing them was done with so much of dexterity, it took us couple of decades to realise its negative impact.

 [ ABSOLUTELY CORRECT SELF IS THE PRODUCT OF THAT PERIOD AS A JUNIOR OFFICER ]

 

Mrs Gandhi was feted and was called ‘Durga’ and she basked in the limelight of victory and self-adulation. However, she proved to be the daughter of her illustrious father by sharing the same antipathy and disdain towards the Armed Forces. She was a smart women hence concealed it to a great extent with outer façade of support and derived maximum political mileage of the victory. The running down of the Armed Forces in the Third Pay Commission could not have been done without her active and positive consent?

[ SOME PSYCOPHANT  EVEN PRODUCED A TWO HRS PLUS DOCUMENTARY  " INDUS TO INDIRA "]

 

 

Their next target was the most popular figure in the country Fd Marshal Manekshaw.
 He was made a Field Marshall and the appointment is active for life, though ceremonial in nature. A Field Marshall does not retire and continues to wear his five star rank for life. He was entitled to Pay and Allowances for life. The bureaucrats who were literally jealous of his popularity ensured that he did not get his pay and allowances; low and behold! for the next 36 years, and

finally a lump sum of ₹ 1.60 crore of arrears was released to him on intervention by then President Abdul Kalam.

A non-descript bureaucrat gave him his pension dues on his deathbed in Jun 2007 a few days before he breathed his last. Isn’t it a national tragedy? Don’t you sometimes feel whether the country deserves selfless service from its soldiers? Can any country on this earth be more ungrateful towards her soldiers than ‘Mother India?


What a great victory for the MOD

for destroying the soldiers pride?


    [ NOW MOD IS SET TO DESTROY INDIA]
 

 

Let us now analyse as to why a soldier fights? Why does he give his life for a cause? What makes him charge through a fusillade of bullets and splinters against sure death and injury overcoming the instinct of self-preservation? Why is he prepared to make his ultimate sacrifice and bid goodbye to the world? Why does he not think of his loving wife, his innocent children, his aged parents and the living world of mirth and bliss; knowing he has not even spent a quarter of his life? Why all his near and dear ones pale in to insignificance and he sees only his mission like Arjuna only seeing the eye of the bird?

                    All these questions can be

          answered in two words;


                      His Pride.
 

It is his professional pride that make him a hero. He wants to be a hero before his comrades; before his superiors, in his unit and in his country. He is a hero of his village and hero in front of his parents. He is a hero to his wife and a super hero to his children. He also knows he is the last bastion of the nation and he is the last trump card in the hands of his nation. He knows that if he fails the nation fails. It is this emotion that drives him towards mission accomplishment. It is all the way Pride! Pride! And Pride. It is nothing else but ‘Pride’.
 

Sad to say; it is exactly that the Governments of his own country wants to deprive him of?

 He has been badgered, humiliated, impoverished and made a laughing stock in all the successive pay commissions. His status has been lowered time and again by an insensitive government. How can noble thoughts like sacrifice, mission, cause, patriotism and pride be ever understood by self-serving, sly and scheming bureaucracy? A soldiers pride has taken a beating and believe me sir! It would be a long and painful time to build it again?

 

Mr Prime Minister! Before you forget history; In Jun 1932 President Herbert Hoover, the 31st President of US ordered firing on the veterans of First World War for demanding the promised bonus.

Two veterans were killed and several injured. Herbart Hoover lost the election with a devastating defeat and has gone down in history as a lack lustre President.


The Great Depression may have contributed to his rout but the firing on veterans brought him great disrepute. Mr Prime Minister! You are certainly made of a better stuff than Herbert Hoover? Enough has been said of ‘OROP’ and nothing more needs to be said about it.


Supreme court has granted it and parliamentary committee has approved it. Not a single political party has opposed it but it is still undone? For the past 70 days agitation is on and brute force of police has been unleashed on them. Dear Prime Minister! I hope you have seen the sad picture of a proud veteran trying to fight his tears and another veteran whose shirt with medals torn asunder withstands the criminal use of force against him with quiet dignity and equanimity. It is still not too late to make amends.

 

Reminds me the words of Edmond Burke

“ Invention is exhausted, Reason is fatigued,

Experience has given its judgement but

Obstinacy remains unconquered”.

Mr Prime Minister ! I believe you have still the

ability to overrule small minions around you,

who do not have the nation in their heart and

are bent upon the murdering the

                     ‘ Pride in a Soldier’.

Remember ‘Soldiers’ Pride is Nation’s Security’.

                        You kill his pride;

            you endanger the nation’s security.

https://www.reddit.com/r/india/comments/3ih3kl/soldiers_pride_is_nations_security/

 

OROP : A NIGHT WITH THE VETERANS ON THE ROAD AT JANTAR MANTAR

SOURCE:
http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/on-a-fast-and-furious-a-night-on-the-road-with-military-veterans-on-strike-1211453?pfrom=video-read





                                       MODI  KA  TAMASHA

                 BHARAT KI  IZZAT PAR

Published on Aug 25, 2015

On Tamasha, the Prime Minister is selling a substitute package for One Rank One Pension scheme which includes onions, books and a 'collection' of unfulfilled promises.

Watch more videos: http://www.ndtv.com/video?yt

                 A NIGHT WITH THE VETERANS
                                        ON
         THE ROAD AT JANTAR  MANTAR

Published on Aug 26, 2015

Seventy-eight-year old Bishambar says he doesn't use his last name much - everyone here refers to him as Grenadier Bishambar. His old regiment is his only identity. For nearly 70 days, the old Grenadier has been praying intently every night before he tries to sleep. Sleep is a luxury. There are many thoughts in his mind. When will he return home? When will the protests over One Rank, One Pension finally end? Will he get a few thousand rupees more every month as pension? Will the government finally give his fellow ex-servicemen the respect that he feels has been denied to them?

Watch more videos: http://www.ndtv.com/video?yt

 

 

 

On a Fast, and Furious. A Night on the Road With Protesting Military Veterans

All India | Written by Vishnu Som | Updated: August 27, 2015 11:10 IST

 

 

 

Seventy-eight-year old Bishambar says he doesn't use his last name much - everyone here refers to him as Grenadier Bishambar.

 His old regiment is his only identity.

For nearly 70 days, the old Grenadier has been praying intently every night before he tries to sleep.

 

Sleep is a luxury.

 

There are many thoughts in his mind. When will he return home? When will the protests over One Rank, One Pension finally end? Will he get a few thousand rupees more every month as pension? Will the government finally give his fellow ex-servicemen the respect that he feels has been denied to them?

  

'Grenadier' Bishambar, 78, is among the ex-servicemen who are sleeping out in the open to support his colleagues in the protests demanding One Rank, One Pension.

 

 

Alongside Bishambar, are a handful of ex-servicemen who may not be on a fast unto death but who will not leave the side of the men who are fasting like Havaldar Major Singh, who has not eaten a morsel of food since August 17. Major Singh, who refused to be hospitalised on Wednesday, is now so weak that he will be shifted anytime.

The Havaldar tells us,

 "Until our aim is achieved, I will stay here. If I have to die here, then I will die here. No problem."
Colonel Pushpender Singh, another officer retired from the Grenadiers, had begun his fast with Havaldar Major Singh. He had been shifted to the Army Research and Referral Hospital on Monday, after his condition deteriorated. But even in hospital, he has refused to ear and continues to be on drips.

Joining in on the protests on Wednesday was AK Sharma, a former Commander of the Indian Navy. He laughs as he asks me whether I would like to join him on a fast unto death.

 

 I don't have the courage, I tell him.

 

 "Try it, you will find courage" he says.

 

 I ask the Commander how he intends to spend the night. "We'll talk. We'll try and rest as much as we can. And let us see how it goes. My family backs me, which is why I am here."

Jantar Mantar has an eerie silence now. Gone are the other protesters. Gone is the constant cacophony of loud speakers jostling for the attention of the passers-by. All that is constant now is the occasional autorickshaw that passes by this route and a handful of OROP protesters who refuse to leave.

They are true soldiers, tasked to hold the line. That's what they are doing here. Old military habits die hard. An order is an order and they will not budge until that is carried out.
 

Story First Published: August 27, 2015 10:21 IST