It is a pension scheme for the armed forces personnel which was in existence till 1973.
This scheme provided same pension for same rank and for the same length of service irrespective of the date of retirement which was the basis for determining the pension and benefits of the Indian Armed Forces till 1973.
OROP was terminated by the government in 1973.
Which government was in power at that time and who was the PM of India?
Then came the Koshiyari committee –
Bhagat Singh Koshiyari headed a committee which comprised 10 members (an all party parliamentary panel). It was formed in 2011.
What were the recommendations of the committee?
OROP should be implemented in the defence forces at the earliest and a separate commission should be formed to take decisions on pay allowances, pension, family pension etc. in respect of the defence personnel should be taken into the account by that committee.
The committee recommended to absorb the Armed Forces personnel after their military engagement into other services of government which is a custom in countries like U.S. and China.
What would be the financial Implications?
Early estimates were around 3000crores for OROP.( by Ministry of Defence)
Revised estimates vary between 8000 to 9000 crores.
According to the Koshiyari committee the estimates for implementation of OROP were around 12000 crores.
Is OROP expensive for the government?
OROP is affordable by the government as it is a small fraction of the military pension budget.
It includes about 4,00,000 defence civilians.
Defence civilians, which includes the entire civilian bureaucracy in the ministry of defence ,retire at the age of 60 are mostly based permanently in Delhi and they are not covered by OROP.
It is alleged that they oppose the OROP due to their exclusion from the scheme.
Government of India on OROP
The government does not subscribe to the definition of Koshiyari committee, but states that there is a need for a new definition of OROP which should be acceptable to all the other ‘stakeholders’.
The stakeholders were neither defined nor identified by the government.
The government stand on the OROP prompted widespread dismay, disappointment and outrage amongst Armed Forces pensioners.
The ministry of defence recommended the proposal for implementation after the approval of the Defence minister.
Now it is with the of the Finance ministry which should make a call on the scheme.
