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Created: 15 June 2019

JAMMU: Brig Veteran Anil Gupta, State Spokesperson of BJP, has appealed to the Prime Minister and Raksha Mantri on behalf of all veterans, Veer Naris and family pensioners of J&K to honour the promise made by the government regarding five yearly equalisation of pension as per the approved One Rank One Pension (OROP) Scheme. Expressing serious apprehensions about the letter written by Comptroller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA) just a month prior to the due date of equalisation 01July, Brig Gupta has stated that it is yet another attempt by the bureaucracy to create distrust and wedge between the government and the veteran community.

CGDA letter seeking seven to eight clarifications on the settled issue of OROP as approved by Modi government in 2016 w.e.f.  01 July 2014 smacks of a conspiracy of misleading the present government to revisit the entire issue. Even in 2016, while Modi government was magnanimous in meeting the four decade old demand of the veterans, the Babus in MOD and CGDA had tried to steal the credit from the government by crating hurdles in its smooth implementation rued Brig Gupta. Net result was that despite its magnanimity, the government failed to win hearts of the veterans which was exploited by the opposition parties.

It is surprising that RM has ordered a committee to look into the matter headed by the same CGDA, who is the mastermind of the conspiracy. The veterans feel that he would never be sympathetic and fair to their cause asserted Brig Gupta.

Gupta also clarified that to compare 7th CPC with OROP is an attempt by the CGDA to include a new dimension. While a pay commission is setup every 10 years by the government to revise pay and allowances of its serving and pensioner employees and its award is applicable to all government servants from the date announced by the government, OROP is equalisation of pension of past and present retirees awarded to armed forces personnel clarified Brig Gupta. The PM and RM are requested to ignore the objections of CGDA and honour their commitment to the veteran community which has complete faith in the present leadership appealed Brig Gupta.