Moving a step closer to fulfilling its promise of implementing the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme for military personnel, the government released detailed instructions and tables on its implementation. This is a follow-up to the notification on OROP on November 7 last year.
Key Points
The annual recurring cost of the scheme would be Rs.7,500 crore, pushing the total Defence budget for pensions from Rs.54,000 crore (Budget estimate 2015-16) to around Rs.65,000 crore (proposed estimate for 2016-17), the government said in a statement.
The arrears for 18 months from July 2014 to December 2015 would be Rs.10,900 crore. According to the government, 86 per cent of the total expenditure on account of OROP would benefit jawans and Junior Commissioned Officers.
Arrears will be paid in four instalments, except for family pensioners and pensioners in receipt of gallantry awards, who will be paid arrears in one instalment.
Background
The OROP notification had been rejected by ex-servicemen who said that it was in violation of the “accepted definition”. In December, the government appointed a one-man judicial commission headed by Justice L.Narasimha Reddy, former Chief Justice of Patna High Court, to look into the issues arising out of the implementation and the report to be submitted in six months.
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