The One Rank One Pension scheme for armed forces was scrapped by Mrs Indira Gandhi in 1973. Since then the armed forces have been demanding for it to be restored.Now with some changes the OROP has become a reality which will help many war widows and armed personnel . There may be some minor hitches which would be gradually solved but the major hurdles have been crossed .
Gulshan and India Today group may be Vijay's props but I stick to what I say - The term OROP may have been used later but for all practical purposes it was Indira Gandhi who was at the center of the controversy ..
It is true that the decision to do away with OROP came up during the 3rd pay commission and it was decided to be same as the civil pension scheme. That was the first pay commission without a military member. The fact that an Army personnel was equated with a civilian was indeed unfair since the working conditions can never be equated. The pay commission could not have been possible without the knowledge of the then PM. What exactly conspired or happened can not be vouched for after 42 years. Fd Marshal Manekshaw however is known to have shared a close rapport with Mrs Indira Gandhi and therefore one can not understand why exactly did a straight forward person of his stature who never hesitated in calling the spade,a spade take it. Maybe the soldier in him and bound to rules that comes with the uniform( as it was believed then that a soldier does his duties irrespective of the incentives) he maintained his dignity by not interfering. Anyways high time that the soldiers got their dues and I'm really happy that things have worked in their favour to some extent finally!!
Of course some want to believe only what they want to, only those links that support their own wishful thinking but fats are different and one has to face them..I guess even the link below will be called unreliable except for Gulshan's words and an incomplete article by Times of India !
‘One Rank One Pension’ more widely known by its acronym OROP, until 1973, was the basis for deciding pension of Indian Armed Forces Personnel [1] In 1973, in the wake ofThird Central Pay Commission (3CPC), when Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister, and Jagjivan Ram was Defense Minister, the Indian National Congress Government, “took ex-parte decision against the One Rank One Pension formula”. One Rank One Pension (OROP) since then has become a contentious issue
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koshyari_Committee_Report_On_Grant_Of_One_Rank_One_Pension
usha manohar wrote:Of course some want to believe only what they want to, only those links that support their own wishful thinking but fats are different and one has to face them..I guess even the link below will be called unreliable except for Gulshan's words and an incomplete article by Times of India !
‘One Rank One Pension’ more widely known by its acronym OROP, until 1973, was the basis for deciding pension of Indian Armed Forces Personnel [1] In 1973, in the wake ofThird Central Pay Commission (3CPC), when Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister, and Jagjivan Ram was Defense Minister, the Indian National Congress Government, “took ex-parte decision against the One Rank One Pension formula”. One Rank One Pension (OROP) since then has become a contentious issue
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koshyari_Committee_Report_On_Grant_Of_One_Rank_One_Pension
Truth prevails. All other things will be blown away.
rambabu wrote:vijay wrote:The thread initiator had written that Indira Gandhi had scrapped the OROP in 1973. @Gulshan says it was because of third pay commission abolishing the then prevailing system of pension calculation that the need for OROP arose in 1973. I tend to agree with Gulshanji's views as it is the correct position. I feel the references provided by @Rambabu and @Usha are not correct for which they are in no way responsible. Web based information portals are many times not reliable as they are not authenticated. My reason for pointing it out is to set the record straight as otherwise wrong information goes through. There was no OROP in 1973 and thus it could not have been scrapped.
Is there any basis for your info that there was no OROP in 1973?
I an a retired Defence employee. I was involved in pay fixation of 1973 pay commission report. Up to 1973, the army soldiers did not have any graded pay scales. Their pay was fixed according to chart showing pay on basis of lenghth of service and rank. This ensured that even if some body is promoted late, he would get the same pay as another promoted earlier but having same length of service. Similarly pension was fixed. The third c pay commission introduced pay scales. The pension is based on average emoluments in the last ten months. The pay commissions revise pay and pension in such a way that new comers gain more. So the old ones are relative losers. It is hence the system at fault and no individual including Indira Gandhi. It is not possible to give link as traditionally, all information about defence even pay scales are considered secret and the literature/ books are not available in market unlike civil books.
Gulshan Kumar Ajmani wrote:rambabu wrote:vijay wrote:The thread initiator had written that Indira Gandhi had scrapped the OROP in 1973. @Gulshan says it was because of third pay commission abolishing the then prevailing system of pension calculation that the need for OROP arose in 1973. I tend to agree with Gulshanji's views as it is the correct position. I feel the references provided by @Rambabu and @Usha are not correct for which they are in no way responsible. Web based information portals are many times not reliable as they are not authenticated. My reason for pointing it out is to set the record straight as otherwise wrong information goes through. There was no OROP in 1973 and thus it could not have been scrapped.
Is there any basis for your info that there was no OROP in 1973?
I an a retired Defence employee. I was involved in pay fixation of 1973 pay commission report. Up to 1973, the army soldiers did not have any graded pay scales. Their pay was fixed according to chart showing pay on basis of lenghth of service and rank. This ensured that even if some body is promoted late, he would get the same pay as another promoted earlier but having same length of service. Similarly pension was fixed. The third c pay commission introduced pay scales. The pension is based on average emoluments in the last ten months. The pay commissions revise pay and pension in such a way that new comers gain more. So the old ones are relative losers. It is hence the system at fault and no individual including Indira Gandhi. It is not possible to give link as traditionally, all information about defence even pay scales are considered secret and the literature/ books are not available in market unlike civil books.
OK. It's confusing. Many members posted that Indira Gandhi Govt dropped OROP in 1973. What about them ? Which is right ?
Despite all, we should forget and be glad that the issue of OROP passed on smoothly.
The pension which the Army people received at time was fixed and was 75 percent of the pay for all defence prsonnel which was brought down to 50 percent in 1973 CPC and the civilian people's was raised to 50 percent from 30 percent. The soldiers retired at 35 but their civilian counterparts at 60...hence the equation was at fault (keeping aside the difference in their duties) .. This was passed in the pay commission... Is it not true? I'm not blaming anyone for it because a lot many positives were achieved such as increasing the number of years service of the soldiers I think was raised and so on..moreover it was accepted by the top brass also although it has always remained a topic of discontent . The successive pay commissions made a huge difference in the pensions received by the officers and jawans retiring earlier and later. Therefore OROP was the solution to all including the pay difference with the civilians. We should not make it a political issue although the politicians are the ones running the show..they are the ones who decide and most of the time what they do is for their own vote bank and less out of goodwill. The defence should be considered separate and beyond petty politics.It is sad that a soldier has to go on hunger strike to get his dues. The ruling party may have passed it but it would not have been possible if the protests from the veterans and serving officers not been so strong.
Let me here point out that the condition of service and pension is being improved since independence. Let us talk about pension only here. Initially, pensioners did not get any dearness relief. A pension once fixed was for life and there would never be change. Later they also got dearness relief like serving personnel. Also initially when pay was revised, pension was not revised. It goes credit to successive governments in independent India that pension is also revised along with serving personnel by the pay commissions. Also the medical allowance and CGHS facility were introduced by previous Congress governments. The present government definitely gets credit for one rank one pension. But it cannot be said that the congress governments did nothing for improving pay, pension and other benefits. Also the further iomprovement in future also cannot be ruled out.
Whosoever is responsible or under what conditions delays took place for the delay of OROP is not necessary in the present conditions, when OROP has come into existence and most of the demands of Army personnel are met, with a possibility of better conditions in future, let's all celebrate.
But one thing is for sure. OROP the just demand of the Army was delayed for a long time.
Gulshan Kumar Ajmani wrote:rambabu wrote:vijay wrote:The thread initiator had written that Indira Gandhi had scrapped the OROP in 1973. @Gulshan says it was because of third pay commission abolishing the then prevailing system of pension calculation that the need for OROP arose in 1973. I tend to agree with Gulshanji's views as it is the correct position. I feel the references provided by @Rambabu and @Usha are not correct for which they are in no way responsible. Web based information portals are many times not reliable as they are not authenticated. My reason for pointing it out is to set the record straight as otherwise wrong information goes through. There was no OROP in 1973 and thus it could not have been scrapped.
Is there any basis for your info that there was no OROP in 1973?
I an a retired Defence employee. I was involved in pay fixation of 1973 pay commission report. Up to 1973, the army soldiers did not have any graded pay scales. Their pay was fixed according to chart showing pay on basis of lenghth of service and rank. This ensured that even if some body is promoted late, he would get the same pay as another promoted earlier but having same length of service. Similarly pension was fixed. The third c pay commission introduced pay scales. The pension is based on average emoluments in the last ten months. The pay commissions revise pay and pension in such a way that new comers gain more. So the old ones are relative losers. It is hence the system at fault and no individual including Indira Gandhi. It is not possible to give link as traditionally, all information about defence even pay scales are considered secret and the literature/ books are not available in market unlike civil books.
So in your opinion, this link and the Koshyari committee report has no relevance ??? And as the head of the nation, how is it that Indira Gandhi becomes blameless, that is news to me ! Is this something happens in a Congress led government because I see the same people blaming Modi all saffron deeds !!!
‘One Rank One Pension’ more widely known by its acronym OROP, until 1973, was the basis for deciding pension of Indian Armed Forces Personnel [1] In 1973, in the wake ofThird Central Pay Commission (3CPC), when Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister, and Jagjivan Ram was Defense Minister, the Indian National Congress Government, “took ex-parte decision against the One Rank One Pension formula”. One Rank One Pension (OROP) since then has become a contentious issue
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koshyari_Committee_Report_On_Grant_Of_One_Rank_One_Pension
@kiran8