Amidst raging debate over the delay in the ‘One Rank One Pension’ issue, Navy Chief RK Dhowan said that the veterans will have to be patient. “We need to be patient. The Ministry of Defence has been seized of the matter.
Stating that it is a complex issue, he said that much work has been done. “A lot of progress has been made in the case,” he said.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has recently assured the ex-servicemen of early implementation of the ‘one rank, one pension’ scheme, saying his Ministry has fast-tracked the work on it. The assurance came after a 27-member delegation of the ex-servicemen met him.
A rally was also held by the ex-servicemen, seeking early implementation of the scheme. Defence sources said Parrikar assured the ex-servicemen of rolling it out at the earliest. He said he is working hard on it and the Ministry will send its views to the Finance Ministry by February 17.
Parrikar underlined that there are lot of calculations and complications involved and he is working towards solving them.
One rank, one pension scheme has been a long-standing demand of the over 2 million ex-servicemen in the country. It seeks to ensure that a uniform pension is paid to defence personnel who retire at the same rank with the same length of service, irrespective of their date of retirement.
