A three-member IESM
Delegation had a meeting with Shri Manohar Parrikar, Raksha Mantri, at
1845hrs on 15th June 2016 to discuss status of grant of full OROP and
various other matters concerning welfare of Ex Servicemen of India.
The Delegation consisted of:
Maj Gen Satbir Singh Chairman, IESM
Hon Lt K Pande Member, Governing Body, IESM
Wg Cdr CK Sharma Treasurer, IESM
It was an extremely warm, proactive, cordial and positive meeting.
Maj
Gen Satbir Singh said that IESM, the prime movers of the peaceful and
democratic protest at Jantar Mantar, is fully aware that it was the
Prime Minister, the Finance Minister and the Raksha Mantri who, after 43
years, have finally granted the award of One Rank One Pension to the
ESM of India. At Jantar Mantar, we have always made a point of
emphasizing this. What the huge number of ESM who regularly visit JM
were asking for was not money but for restoration of the IZZAT of the
Indian Army, Navy and Air Force that has seen a continuous
down-gradation over the last 67 years. They sought INSAAF of the wrongs
done to the Defence fraternity more than anything else!
This
was virtually the first time in the history of this Nation that we had a
hands-on Raksha Mantri who was not only aware of problems of ESM but
was fully capable of understanding and sorting out all their problems.
Team-IESM
said that the OROP award of 7th November 2015 had four specific
anomalies that we would request the RM to look into and resolve.
A
very cordial discussion took place thereafter where RM assured us that
even though the Reddy Committee has been given a 6-month extension, this
does NOT mean that its final report would be submitted in December but
that it may get submitted well before the expiry of the extension
period.
The four anomalies, and various implications and ramifications if these were to be resolved, were discussed.
With his permission, Team-IESM brought out the following problems currently being faced by the Veer Naris and ESM:
1.
WIDOWS who had not yet received the arrears of OROP: The RM assured
that all necessary orders have already been passed by him regarding
this. RM emphasized that it was incumbent on the ESM around the widows
to make them understand what their dues were and to make sure the Banks
honoured those dues quickly. If there are any cases of negligence by any
particular Bank, the matter should be brought to his notice and he
would take immediate steps to rectify the errors of the particular Bank.
2.
HONORARY RANK EMOLUMENTS: It is necessary that Court orders on the
subject need to applicable to all Honorary Rank holders across the board
and this needs to be expedited for execution on the ground level.
3.
BROAD BANDING: The RM said that the Finance Ministry had raised some
queries that are being tackled and answered. We suggested that the Court
awards must be made applicable to all and not just the litigants/
petitioners.
4.
33 YEARS CASE: RM said that orders on this have already been finalized.
Care was being taken to ensure that the associated tables, especially
for Other Ranks and JCOs, were prepared error-free and with the least
amount of inaccuracies.
5.
ARREARS OF 2006: RM said that all orders regarding this have already
been issued and if any discrepancies in execution were noted, these must
be brought to his notice at the earliest.
6.
DEFINITION OF OROP: Team-IESM requested that the definition of OROP, as
enunciated by the RRM on 2nd December 2014 should be adhered to. The
actual definition is: “Uniform pension be paid to Armed Forces personnel
retiring in the same rank with the same length of service irrespective
of their date of retirement and any future enhancement in the rates to
be automatically passed on to the past pensioners.” The incorrect
definition given to Reddy Committee needs to be aligned with that.
7. RESOLUTION OF THE PENSIONS OF MAJORS. This was discussed again and RM requested to kindly take a favourable decision on it.
8.
7th PAY COMMISSION: It was clarified by the RM that the 7th PC would be
applicable to all ESM above and beyond the award of OROP.
9.
REDDY COMMITTEE: RM said that all points that were submitted by IESM
for the Reddy Committee had been forwarded to it and very soon, Justice
Reddy can be expected to call IESM for a discussion on them.
The
RM suggested that all the above non-OROP points should be sent to him
in writing to enable him to obtain the exact position. He would then
call the IESM Team for another discussion on these, as soon as possible.
This will be done very soon.
The meeting came
to an end with the RM assuring that not only was he fully aware of all
problems being faced by ESM but that he, under the Prime Minister, had
full intentions of resolving these at the earliest.
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