OROP Announced But Veterans' Struggle Still On

It's a battle half won. On 5th Sept 2015, 43 years after it was first demanded, Narendra Modi led NDA government announced the implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP). It is a new system of determining pension of Armed Forces in which two military persons who retired after equal service in the same rank, get an equal pension, irrespective of time span separating their retirement day.

But, what could have been an end of 83 days battle for the veterans in Jantar Mantar, seems to be a start of a fresh struggle. Even though the ex-servicemen have welcomed and  thanked the government for principally accepting and implementing OROP. They have openly rejected most points of the proposal.

According to the proposal announced by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, the commencement of OROP will be from 1st July 2014 with 2013 as the base year. The veterans want it to be April 2014 as announced by previous UPA government. But, the government has taken July as the month of commencement because it took the oath in May.
Another announcement with which veterans are unhappy is that the gap between the rate of current pensioners and past pensioners all be equalized in every 5 years. What veterans demanded was revision should be done in every two years. OROP loses it relevance and then it will be considered as One Rank Five Pensions. Understanding the reason behind government step, Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrashekhar told Indian Express, "it is financially prudent to first observe pension cost movement for few years before commitment to normalize more is implemented frequently." 

But, the difference that has grabbed the major attention was a new bone of contention of Premature retirement. Manohar Parrikar in his press conference mentioned that personnel who have taken premature retirement are not entitled to OROP. The exclusion of PMR astonished veterans as it was never a part of the discussion between government and ex-servicemen. Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a rally in Faridabad, said "those injured, those who had to compulsorily leave, they will get OROP. But there is a bit of confusion over the implementation of OROP for those who took early retirement for benefits. Veterans have showed their disagreement and have called it 'last-minute mischief' by the government. According to the veterans, 46% of ex-servicemen PMR. If this clause excluded, the OROP budget will be slashed by 50% - about Rs 4000 crore of the estimated Rs 8000-10000 crore.This issue of PMR is, of course, a major reason for veterans to continue the relay hunger strike. Though, the infinite hunger strike of eight ex-servicemen has been called off.

The struggle is on, even though the implementation is a big win for the veterans. What other governments couldn't do for 43 years, Modi-led NDA government did in 15 months. But it  can gain total success and appreciation only when these issues will be resolved soon.

Mulayam Exits Grand Alliance; Dent to repair for Nitish and Lalu

It's a major setback to the newly formed 'secular' front Janata Parivar as the Samajwadi Party walks out of the grand alliance. Mulayam Singh's party has announced to fight Bihar alone, the first major test for the alliance which is said to be held by November. The announcement came just a few days after alliance's first major event in Patna- Swabhiman rally in Pragati Maidan. In spite Nitish, Sonia and Lalu sharing the dais, Mulayam gave it a miss.

Samajwadi Chief Mulayam Singh, who was also the President of the Janata Parivar, was upset over the seat sharing before the election. During the first announcement of seat sharing, SP received zero seats. But, later it was increased to five when Lalu Yadav' RJD gave them seats out their 100 seats share. A move to placate Mulayam Singh. But, the dissent continued as Mulayam was keen for 12 seats. Both Nitish Kumar and Lalu Yadav couldn't afford to give 10+ seats as Samajwadi Party has no presence in the state. This treatment was not accepted by the party state unit.

As SP has no legislator or Parliamentarian from Bihar, its exit doesn't affect the election in terms of seats. But SP exit will definitely hit the Parivar psychologically. This is not the first party that has left the alliance, NCP also left due to unsatisfactory seat sharing. SP's exit once again questions the stability of the alliance.
Since its inception, many experts have been critical about all alliance parties' commitment towards it. Nitish Kumar JD(U), Lalu Prasad Yadav's RJD, Congress Party, Mulayam Singh's Samajwadi and others 'secular' parties had joined hands to stop Modi wave across India. It made decades old enemies Nitish and Lalu come together to stop so-called communal ideology from spreading. BJP and other NDA parties, since the beginning, called it a 'failed alliance.'

There are still few months before the Bihar election. Will Nitish and Lalu, the heavyweights of Bihar, be able to keep the alliance together in spite of fiction between them. Only time to tell.