Brief on ''One Rank One Pension''

What is One Rank One Pension (OROP)

As per the Hon’ble Supreme Courts’ ruling Pension is ‘‘Delayed wages for
the services already rendered’’ . Therefore , all those who had rendered same
services should get the same ‘’delayed wages’’, i.e. Pension , irrespective of their
date of retirement . Simply put all military persons , who held the ‘Same Rank’ and
put in ’Same Length of Service’ under similar circumstances (category/ trade etc)
be given the ‘Same Pension’ , irrespective of their date of retirement .

Why OROP
Up to second Pay Commission (in 1960s) military retirees used to get ‘One
Rank One Pension’ in the form of ‘’Military Pension’’, wherein the old retirees got
same pension as the new ones in the same rank . Also at that time , to
compensate for their early ‘’FORCED RETIREMENT’’ to keep the military
young , they used to get up to 65 % of the pay drawn as pension , where as the
civilians used to get 33% of pay as pension , since the latter served for very long
duration up to 55 to 58 years of age . However with the 3rd Pay Commission, ‘’Military
Pension’’ was done away and their pension was reduced to 50 % and that of the
civilians’ was increased from 33% to 50%. Also, the pension rules applicable to the
Civilians, like getting full pension after 33 years, were made applicable to the military
as well, fully forgetting that the defence persons could not put in 33 years of
service , since they were forcedly retired , starting from 17 years for a Sepoy. With
each promotion they got couple of years more to serve and with the exception of
some officers none could put in 33 years of service . Various wieghtage in years
were given later to enable them to get closer to 50% of pay . However with the
wieghtage , no increase in ‘PAY’ was given .

With each Pay Commission Award , the pay of all ranks goes up but those
who retired earlier their pension does not increase much because it is based upon
old lower pay scales . While health related and other financial responsibilities of
older retirees keep on increasing , their pension , which is a function of ‘Rank’
held , being peculiar to military only, does not increase proportionately . After the
award of 6th Pay Commission , the difference in pensions for a Sepoy is over Rs
3000/- and that of a Col is about Rs 14, 000/ for those who retired after and prior to
the applicability of its ‘award’ . This is grossly against the ‘Law of Natural Justice’ and
violates Article 14 of our constitution which emphasizes need for ‘‘Equity’’. Also ,
the Hon'ble Supreme Court , in its judgment in September ’08 ruled that there could
not be two scales of pension for the same rank but with different date of
retirement as it amounted to creating ‘’CLASS WITH IN A CLASS’’ .

In April ’10 the Hon'ble Supreme Court , in the case of Capt C.S Sidhu
rebuked the govt NOT to treat Soldiers shabbily (actual wording was ,’’ Don’t treat
them like beggars’’ , which was changed on plea of the govt pleader)
Progress So far
To remove this anomaly , a Committee was formed in 1979 under K P
Singh Deo , then an MP , who recommended that retired Defence Personnel of the
same ‘Rank’, other conditions being same / similar there should get same pension
irrespective their date of retirement . This principle of One Rank One Pension ( O.
R O.P.) was accepted by number of Central Govts , on the floor of the Parliament ,
as a mark of gratitude to the Defence Services. Accordingly many Presidents ,
Prime Ministers and the Defence Ministers promised to implement the same . When
it was pointed out that the other Govt employees would also ask for a similar
treatment , Mr VP Singh, the then Prime Minister in 1990 , is on record having
remarked , “ Let them (the civilian employees ) swap places with the military ” . But
his govt fell before orders on One Rank One Pension could be issued.

Mr George Fernandes then Defence Minister of NDA , announced at

Anandpur Sahib in 1999 that One Rank One Pension would be given in a ‘‘ Matter of
days’’ . Mrs Sonia Gandhi , the President of the Congress categorically stated in a
Rally at Chandigarh in November 2002 ,that when their party came to power it would
give OROP . The ‘Standing Committee on Defence’ (13th Lok Sabha) studied the
problem and made suitable recommendations in its “20th Report’’. One of
its recommendations was that the OROP be implemented . It even went to the extent
that a ‘Precedent’ be made in this regards . This ’Report’ was tabled in both the
houses of the Parliament by December 2003.. But the NDA govt fell in May 2004.
However the issue was also included in the President’s address to the Parliament in
2004 . All major political parties including Congress party had included this point in
their Lok Sabha election manifestos . Again , the UPA govt’s Parliamentary
Committee on Defence , Chaired by Mr Satpalji Maharj recommended One Rank
One Pension in its report on 07 May 2010. That makes OROP the declared policy of
the Government and not just of any one political party .

After a lot of hard struggle including return of War Medals, holding of number
of Rallies , observing ‘Relay Hunger Strikes ,SIGNING IN ''BLOOD'' and all
other peaceful means through out the country, lot many promises were made.

Decision of Armed Forces Tribunal Chandigarh bench

The Chandigarh bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal has directed the Union
government to grant one rank one pension or the same pension to personnel
belonging to the same rank, irrespective of the date of retirement. Deciding on the
cases of Babu Ram Dhiman vs Union of India and Sohan Singh vs Union o f
India, the tribunal on Monday said, “It is quite clear that the State cannot lay down
different criteria for grant of pension for same rank of officers and Personnel Below
Officer Rank (PBOR) on the basis of the cut-off date of retirement. All pensioners,
irrespective of the date of retirement are entitled to (the) same pension.”
The judgment also said grant of unequal pay in the same rank was a violation of
Article 14 of the Constitution that grants equal rights to all citizens.
The All India Ex-Servicemen’s Welfare Association, Chandigarh, under its legal aid
scheme, filed these two cases seeking a direction to the Ministry of Defence to
revise the pension of those who retired before January 2006 to put them on par with
post-September 2008 pensioners.
Bhim Sen Sehgal, chairman of the association and Rajesh Sehgal, petitioners’
counsel, submitted that a Havildar who retired before January 2006 gets a pension
of Rs 4,060 per month while those retiring after September 2008 get Rs 7,846.
Similar are the cases of equivalent ranks of the Army, Navy and Air Force, they said.
Amar Preet Sandhu, the central government’s lawyer maintained that the matter was
under the government’s consideration.