The Modi government seems set to announce the implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP), a long standing demand by the retirement defence personnel, today.
The OROP scheme will be applicable from 1 July, 2014 as against the defence veterans' demand to fix April 1, 2014 as the effective date for the scheme.
Also, the government is set to use 2013 as the base year for calculations, an OROP draft accessed by CNN-IBN showed.
However, the government is expected to remain firm on its stand regarding the duration for equalisation of pension. The draft said "equalisation of pension will take place every five years" while the ex-servicemen had been demanding it to happen annually.
If equalisation of pension is not possible every year then it should take place "at least once in two years", they had demanded.
"We will intensify our agitation if OROP is not in conformity with what we are asking," Major General Satbir Singh (retired) told Zee News.
"If any announcement (by the government) is against our interests, we will oppose it," he added.
The government will also form a one-member judicial commission to ascertain "any anomaly". The commission will submit its report within six months.
If OROP is implemented, the government pension bill on defence forces will rise to Rs 75,000 crore from current Rs 54,000 crore. The number of retired ex-servicemen in the country is over 24.25 lakh, apart from about 6 lakh widows who also receive pension.
The government is expected to take a final call on OROP announcement after briefing President Pranab Mukherjee, as the ex-servicemen have recently sought his intervention in the matter.
