NEW DELHI: Ex-servicemen, pressing for one-rank, one-pension (OROP) for nearly four decades, on Saturday won a partial victory with the government announcing that it would implement it, though the veterans rejected the decision and decided to continue their agitation.On June 14, the ex-servicemen movement under the leadership of Major General (retd) Satbir Singh decided to sit on protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. The panicked government called them for negotiations to find out a middle path. Several rounds of meeting with Defence and Finance Ministry officials took place in South Block. But both sides refused to budge.
Then the PMO had to intervene and Principal Secretary to PM Nripendra Misra held discussions with the veterans. It is
believed that the PMO was making desperate efforts to find a solution so that the PM could announce it from the ramparts of the Red Fort in his Independence Day speech. But once again, the veterans walked out on the negotiations and refused to amend their demands.
They racheted up the pressure with a hunger strike. Finally, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, NSA Ajit Doval and top RSS functionaries brought back the ex-servicemen to the negating table, after they refused to talk to the Defence Ministry. On August 25, Rajnath held a meeting with RSS leaders, including Indresh Kumar, at his official residence to sort out the issue, as the government wanted to make some announcement before the Golden Jubilee celebration.