Unhappy with government committee: Ex-servicemen

Ex-servicemen agitating on the 'One Rank One Pension' (OROP) issue rejected on Monday the single-member committee announced by the government and said they may approach the court against its setting up.

"We do not accept this committee in the first place. We may have to exercise the option of going to court," Col. Anil Kaul (retd), spokesperson of the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement, told IANS.

"All OROP anomalies can be resolved by the government itself; a committee is not needed. You form committees only when you want to push a matter further," he said.

He said a meeting of IESM governing body may be called in a couple of days to discuss the issue.

The veterans have maintained that the OROP scheme announced by the government is flawed.

The one-member judicial committee, announced by government along with the scheme on September 5, is one of the sore points with the ex-servicemen.

"If at all a committee had to be made, a one-member committee makes no sense. There should have been a multi-member committee... this panel will only look into the issues projected by the government," Kaul said.

The veterans demand that at least three members from the ex-servicemen fraternity be taken on any panel to be formed on the issue and it should be given not more than a month to make recommendations.

"We are not questioning the integrity of the judge in question; but what would a justice know about the armed forces," Kaul wondered.

The government on Monday appointed a one-member committee of L. Narasimha Reddy, a retired chief justice of Patna High Court, to look into OROP's implementation. The committee will submit its report in six months. - IANS