One Rank One Pension Without Tears

Scope of Coverage

• Definition• History• Frequently asked Questions• Few Discriminations

DEFINITIONOROP implies that uniform pension be paid to

The Armed Forces personnel retiring in the

same rank with the same length of service,

irrespective of their date of retirement, and

any future enhancement in the rates of

Pension to be automatically passed on to

the past pensioners

HISTORY• Roman emperor Augustus started the tradition of

military pensions in 13 BC by guaranteeing life pensions to every legionary who fought 20 years for Rome. It set the bar for all modern armies and independent India continued the British tradition of financially privileging military service until 1973, when as a gift for the performance of the armed forces in 1971 war the 3 rd pay commission reduced our pensions.

• The armed forces were getting higher pension than civilians till 1973

• Defence forces whose pension was based rank wise had to face reduction from 70% of last pay drawn to 50% where as civil servants went up from 33 % to 50%.

• This kind of discrimination started soon after independence when Nehru first wanted to disband the armed forces and stated that he will manage with police. But when that did not work out thanks to Pakistan, he wanted to import a British General as Chief of Indian Army as according to him Indian officers did not have adequate experience. It is thanks to a brave general who suggested we also import a Prime Minister since none of the politicians had any experience of running the country that the matter was dropped. Nehru was so anti defence forces that he took it upon himself to evict the then COAS from his official residence Teen Murti Marg and the chief had to pitch a tent in army grounds and stay there.

• Taking advantage of the attitude of Nehru and what was happening in Pakistan then, the civil service convinced the politicians that army will take over the country and took over control of the Armed Forces.

• Whilst services accept civil control it does not mean bureaucratic control. May I ask you all who do you think is responsible for the defence of the country??????

• Well surprisingly it is the defence Secretary and not the armed forces chiefs.

• So with this kind of attitude towards the forces it is not surprising that there has been resistance to OROP which was actually sanctioned in 1983 but never implemented. The bureaucrats went to the extent of stating “OROP Over our dead body “ Incidentally OROP is coined by a Committee appointed by Mrs. Indira Gandhi under the Chairmanship of Brig K P Singh Deo.

 • It is only in 2009 after the discrimination against

defence reached its nadir, post 6 th Pay commission that the demand for implementation of this long standing sanction has been intensified.

Frequently asked Questions

• Is the demand about Money?No

The fight for equal pensions is at its heart a proxy battle for what we see as restoring our lost `izzat', for getting what we see as ourrightful place in the civil-military balance wherepolitical control of the military has translatedinto bureaucratic control.

What did the Koshiyari Committee say?• Page 14 of the report states • “There is merit in the demand for One Rank One Pension

by Armed Forces Personnel, otherwise the matter would not have been considered time and again by various committees of the Government and Central Pay Commissions. It could have been rejected once and for all and principle of res judicata (a matter [already] judged)would have been applied to this demand”

• 1973 first considered by 3rd CPC,• 1986 considered again by 4th CPC• 1991 considered by Sharad Pawar committee• 1996 considered again by 5th CPC• 2003 considered by Inter-Ministerial Committee• 2005 considered by Group of Ministers• 2006 considered by 6th CPC

• Do Foreign countries have OROPThe UK has embraced one-rank-one pension for soldiers.Our two biggest strategic challenges, Pakistan and Chinahave of course always privileged their military.• What is the Annual Outlay needed to implement OROP?• During 2011 a Rajya Sabha Parliamentary Committee

(Koshiyari Committee) was assembled to study all manifestations of OROP. They interviewed and heard all stake holders, including Veteran Organizations and MoD and Ministry of Finance. The Ministerial inputs from the last two quoted figures of approx Rs 3500 cr.

• The figures worked out by the RM on a simple calculator were Rs 8300 to 8600 cr which finally worked out to Rs 8293 cr.

• Before the RM took charge of his bureaucrats he was fed figures from 1300 cr to 22000 cr to create a scare of finance shortage.

Why some JCO/Or are saying the demand is officer centric?

• This is a myth being spread by people to split the veterans community.

• Some JCO /OR are raising demands that are not related to OROP .The demands may be valid but are being mixed up with OROP to delay the implementation.

• Let us look at the table that shows who will gain how much and the myth will be exposed purely from OROP point of view .

Table Showing % age increase Rank wise wef 01.01.2006 to grant of OROP

Rank Pension as on 01.01.2006 circular 397

Pension as on 24.09.2012 per circular 500/501/5002

Pension based on DGL as known to IESM

Over all % gain since 01.01.2006

Over all % gain since 24.09.2012

Sep QS 15 yrs Gr Y 4035 5102 8365 107 64

Hav QS 17 Yrs Gr Y 4498 5301 9625 114 82

Sub Maj QS 25 Yrs Gp Y 9812 0 14405 47 0

Hon Lt QS 28 Yrs 13500 15465 17130 27 11

Maj QS 25 Yrs 14100 18205 32526 131 79

Lt Col (S) QS20 Yrs 21028 21490 32490 55 51

Col QS 26 Yrs 26050 27795 35275 35 27

Brig QS 28 Yrs 26150 29145 37255 42 28

Maj Gen QS 28 yrs 24566 29145 41500 69 42

Widows of

Sep QS 15 yrs Gr Y 3500 3500 5646 61 61

Hav QS 17 Yrs Gr Y 3500 3500 5958 70 70

Sub Maj QS 25 Yrs Gp Y 4830   9612 99 0

Hon Lt QS 28 Yrs 8100   10278 27 0

Maj QS 25 Yrs 8460 10923 19977 136 83

Lt Col (S) QS20 Yrs 15420 15759 20589 34 31

Col QS 26 Yrs 15630 16677 23319 49 40

Brig QS 28 Yrs 15690 17487 23421 49 34

Maj Gen QS 28 yrs 15390 18210 24900 62 37

Note :

1. All JCO and below(Except Hon Ranks and Sub Maj/Sub) got an increase in 2009 as well

2. Ranks upto Hav and Maj will gain the most as they had been subject to total injustice so far

What do the Raksha Mantri say about implementation?

•Arun Jaitly: He said no shortage of money for OROP, but asked the ESM to lower their expectations???, meaning accept change in definition as accepted by various committees of Parliament. He went on to suggest his intent to refer the matter to a Tribunal to reconcile differences between the Service Hq and MoD. Such delaying tactics would obviously place the OROP into a long Cold Storage, in line with MoD tactics of attrition though delay. He also states there are many definitions of OROP•Manohar Parrikar: Initially declared that OROP needs a complicated formula to be worked and it can't be treated as a dynamic thing .However later he understood the issue and of late has said that he has done his work correctly and the file is with FM. Clearly indicating his having thrown up his hands vis a vis the FM

Is the complexity of OROP the only factor holding up the issue?

No .In fact there is no complexity in OROP It is a myth being created by those who wish to sabotage the BJP promise of OROP by1. Stating other will ask for it. None can as the terms

of service condition are not same.2. The one time amount required is high .The figure

given is 22000 cr. Fully proved to be wrong by RM himself.

3. Will be referred to 7 PC. Not a part of 7 CPC Charter.

4. There can be different definitions. There is only one definition approved by parliament.

5. The annual increment of .85% will increase the annual load on budget. Let us look at this aspect with care in the next slide.

Is OROP imminently affordable? • It must be clarified that the current defence pension

expenditure of Rs 54,500 crores (2015-16) also includes defence civilians who approximately number 400,000.

• The perceived exponential rise in pension bill needs to be put in the correct perspective. The figure would rise in absolute numbers of course but when viewed as a percentage of the nation’s GDP, the expenditure on defence pension shows an overall declining trend as the table below will illustrate:

• The defence pensions as a percentage of GDP thus shows a clear long term declining trend despite an absolute rise in numbers (the spike in 2009-10 was due to payment of arrears for years 2006, 2007 and 2008 after the award of the 6th pay commission).

Now why does the military have higher number of pensioners as compared to their civilian counterparts?• Simple. • The nation needs a young army and therefore soldiers

are recruited young and retired early (most of them between 34-37 years). On the contrary, all non-military government employees (including jawans of the Central Armed Police Forces—CAPFs) have the luxury of serving till the age of 60. The ratio of pensioners to serving personnel in the military is thus 1.7:1 as against 0.56:1 among the civilians. But that’s the price the nation needs to pay for maintaining a standing army.

• Had the long-standing recommendations for lateral absorption of this vast, disciplined and ready made pool of manpower in various non-military organisations been implemented, perhaps the pension bill could have been reduced but that has not happened because of lack of political will and bureaucratic resistance.

• There is one more reason why the military pension bill will further reduce in terms of percentage of the GDP:

• All civilians in defence ministry who joined service on or after 1 January 2004, have now come under the ambit of the contributory National Pension Scheme (NPS).

• Soldiers unfortunately cannot be brought under the ambit of the NPS because of their short service span. The benefit of NPS, it should be noted, accrues over a long span of time (30 years or more) deriving the benefit from the power of compounding the accrued amount!

How pension Bill will actually decline?

•Bunching Effect Will Peter Out. Bunching implies same salary, and hence pension, for a particular rank even with different years of service, despite the Running Pay Band System introduced by 6th Central Pay Commission—CPC--(salary increases automatically with three per cent annual increment in Running Pay Band System; hence higher salary for higher number of years of service).

How pension Bill will actually decline?

Experts say another way to comprehend thedeclining financial implication of annual review isto draw an analogy from the ‘Damping Out’ of aSinusoidal Wave.  Unless there is an externalimpulse, the sinusoidal wave gets dampedout.  Similarly, as Bunching Effect and otheranomalies exit the system of pay and pensions,with no external impulse (i.e, change in termsand conditions of service), the additional financialimplications of annual review of OROP willcontinuously reduce and in steady state will bealmost zero.    

How pension Bill will actually decline?

•Theoretically, if there are 300 Cells in the OROP table (10 Ranks as Column Heads, 30 Qualifying Service as Row Heads) and all 300 Cells are to be enhanced by one and half per cent next year, the additional financial implication will still be capped at one and half per cent.  However, actually only few Cells may change through annual review of OROP tables and additional financial implication of each Cell may range from 0 to one point five per cent approximately.  Hence, overall additional financial implications will be much lower than one and half per cent.  •It was actually mathematically computed as 0.85 per cent using CGDA (Comptroller General, Defence Accounts) data for JCOs/OR.

How will the OROP be implemented?

Pension on 01.04.2014 Pension on 01.07.2014 Pension on 01.07.2015

onwards till 7 PC

X X+ Increment X+ increment+ Annual

increment X = Pension of an individual who retires on 01.04.2014 and this can be taken from readily available data. All past pensioners are brought at par as on 01.04.2014 The table does not include groups as the definition does not mention them.

X+ increment = First Annual increment to bring all pensioners at par on 01.07.2014

This brings all on par as on 01.07.2014 so that future annual increment in Jul every year.

X+ increment+ Annual increment =50% of annual increment due i.e 3% which ll increase pension by 1.5% every year.

Defence Minister has stated that OROP will be implemented soon. So, why is IESM protesting for non implementation of OROP? dont' you trust the PM? RM?

• We have high hopes and regard for our PM. We believe him. Yet, we are very skeptical of and have experienced the machinations of the Indian Bureaucracy, particularly the MoD. They are old hands at scuttling any move by the Legislative and any rulings by the Judiciary that favors or uplifts the conditions of the Faujis. One e.g

• ‘Maj Gen Vains case’ the Supreme Court (SC) ruling did restore his pension to be marginally above Brigadiers but less than the Maj Generals who retired after 2006, was a grudging saving grace. However, the ignominy continued because the government did not implement the full SC ruling which actually amounted to OROP.In the last hearing the Gov rep stated OROP will be implemented in 3 months and that was in Mar 2015

• Given the reality of veterans being close to ‘passing on’, the issue of OROP assumes great expediency.

Why the lack of Trust?The Koshiyari committee recommendations submitted in2011 were ignored till February 2014 to the detriment of the UPA, but where was the vocal BJP on the issue of OROP when it stalled the Parliament for several weeks and months on other issues?If the BJP did mention OROP in Parliament as often as theimpression is being conveyed, there must be something on the record of Parliament after 2011.How has the OROP fared from 2004 in Parliament? Here is the data available on the internet though Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha websites and only the following information was available (Pls try and keep track of BJP members questions): -

Why the lack of Trust?08 Dec 2004 – Shri Prabhunath Singh (RJD) raises a query but is absent (details not available) 28 Apr 2005 – Dr Col (retd) Dhani Ram Shandil (Shimla - INC) raises a question (details of reply not available)18 Aug 2006 – Shri Kishan Singh Sanghwan (BJP, deceased 2012) raises a question and Shri B K Handique, MoS Defence replies that OROP is not possible due financial, administrative, and legal reasons as recommended by a Committee of Secretaries23 Aug 2007 – Shri P K Dhumal (BJP) raises a question (details of reply not available)26 Feb 2009 – Shri Karan Singh Yadav (Alwar - INC) raises a question (details of reply not available)

Why the lack of Trust? 

21 Aug 2010 – Shri Pratap Singh Bajwa (Gurdaspur – INC) raises a question (details of reply not available) 25 Aug 2010 – Shri Arun Jaitley (BJP) – Non-implementation of OROP by Govt (in his tenures in Rajya Sabha from Feb 2009 to Feb 2014; 08 Jul 2014 - The principle of One Rank One Pension for the Armed Forces has been accepted by the Government. The modalities for implementation were discussed with various stakeholders and are presently under consideration of the Government. It will be implemented once the modalities are approved by the Government. This information was given by Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh (BJP)in a written reply to Dr T Subbarami Reddy in Rajya Sabha on July 8, 2014. 

Why the lack of Trust? 08 Nov 2014 - The principle of One Rank One Pension for the Armed forces has been accepted by the Government. The modalities for implementation were discussed with various stakeholders and are presently under consideration of the Government. It will be implemented once the modalities are approved by the Government. No Budget was allocated for the purpose in the Budget 2013-14. Total number of beneficiaries for OROP will be known once the modalities are approved. This information was given by Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh (BJP) in a written reply to Shri Hukum Singh and others in Lok Sabha today. 25 Nov 2014 – Statement in respect of Para (a) to (c) of Rajya Sabha Starred Question No. 31 for 25.11.2014 regarding implementation of One Rank One Pension:Reply (a) to (c):  The principle of One Rank One Pension for the Armed Forces has been accepted by the Government.  The modalities for implementation were discussed with various stakeholders and are presently under consideration of the Government.  It will be implemented once the modalities are approved by the Government.  

Few Discriminations Type of Allowance Civilian Employee Faujis

Disabled Employees(a) Protection of Service(b) Pay and Allowances(c) Pension(d) Right to life of dignity

of self and family

Govt has to retain them till 60 yrs under Disability ActFull protection under Section 47 of the Act. Will not be discharged on account of disability. Full pay and allowances admissible till the age of 60 even if unable to attend any official duty. Can even be kept on supernumerary post and paid all pay and allowances.Entitled to full service length till superannuation and pension thereafter.Full pay and pension and complete Government protection/cover with entitled facilities Admissible to dependents

Invalided (Thrown) out of service immediately Defence Forces exempted from operation of Section 47. Hence no protection of employment available in case of disability.Employee can be discharged on account of disability.Nil AdmissibleNil Admissible Nil. No facilities or protection for self and dependents

Increase in Pension of highest rank employee from 1973 to 2006

108 timesHighest Civilian Functionary Pension1973 - Rs 416.50/-pm2006 - Rs 45000/-pm

45 timesHighest Def Rank Pension 1973 - Rs 1000/-pm 2006 - Rs 45000/-pm

Period of Service Upto60 years of age 85% compulsorily retired between 35 -37 years age.12-13% compulsorily retired between 40-54 years age

Career Progression Three Promotions at 10,20,30 years of service

Three promotion at 8, 16, 24 years of service.85% compulsorily retired at 15-17 years’ service; thereby denied 3rd career progression

Officer’s Promotion opportunities

100% Joint Secy at 16-18 years’ Service100% Addl Secy at 32 years’ Service

1% Maj Gen at 32-33 years of service.3% Lt Gen 33-35years

Non-functional Upgradtion (NFU)

• JS Pay at approx22 yrs.• Addl Secy Pay at 32yrs

Nil

Support of Heath Care • Per member approx Rs 10000/-

Per member approx Rs 10000/-

Who are getting OROP already?

Top five ranks in the army comprise only 10%of the officer strength. Contrast this with thecivil services where entire batches becomeJoint Secretaries. Thus with majority entitledto NFFU they are getting OROP.

To sum up From the Finance Minister statement in the Economic Times of 05 May 2015,we know that “Tax exemptions and incentives to corporate have resulted in a revenue impact of Rs 62,398.6 cr. to the exchequer in 2014-15, 8 per cent higher than the previous fiscal, Parliament was informed today. In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha , Finance Minister Arun Jetly said the details of revenue impact on central taxes due to various concessions and exemptions have been detailed in the Budget document for 2015-16” but the same Minister is baulking at giving Rs 8300 crores as estimated by the Defence Minister for OROP.   So it is the FM with his Congress mind set who is the stumbling block in implementation of OROP and his intentions were clear from the meager allocation in his budgets knowing fully well the actual financial implications.How do we trust when the PM says he has four more years to implement OROP? Is he buying time to once again fool the ESM till next elections?

In the end let me quote extracts from a mail from ColKaran Kharb after his visit to Jantar Mantar“I learnt that Ram Chander (60) a teacher in Jhunjunu(Rajasthan) was planning to commit suicide either by hanging from the tree or by self-immolating himself. Why? Because his son - a Hav in a Grenadiers unit had sacrificed his life in a terrorist encounter in Kupwara (J&K) in 2012 leaving behind three younger siblings, a daughter and a son."Why are you so angry. Your daughter-in-law must be getting "full last drawn salary" of your son which is much higher than any family pension rate? You are not even affected by OROP.“Kya baat kar rahe ho aap? Mera beta apne ghar walon ke liye Kupwara mein jakar marne gaya tha kya? Nahin Sahb wo desh ke liye qurban hua hai. Mera dil aaj saari Fauj ke liye ro raha hai. Yeh Neta, ye Tehsildar se lekar Chief Secretary tak ke officer log loot machaye hue hain. Udhar Jo sainik desh ki sarhadon par khun bahakar ya to mar jate hain ya pension aa jate hain -- aur yeh unka haq nahin de rahe. OROP jise koi bhi nakar bhi nahi raha lekin de bhi nain raha. Aise desh mein mein jeena hi nahi chahta.mein.....Iss se to angrezon ki ghulami achchi thi....."