Friday, November 28, 2014

One Rank One Pension for the Armed Forces

The principle of One Rank One Pension for the Armed Forces has been accepted by the Government. The modalities for implementation were discussed with various stakeholders and are presently under consideration of the Government. It will be implemented once the modalities are approved by the Government. No Budget was allocated for the purpose in the Budget 2013-14. Total number of beneficiaries or OROP will be known once the modalities are approved.
This information was given by Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh in a written reply to Shri Hukum Singh and others in Lok Sabha today.
The implementation of one rank one pension has pushed up the Centre’s defence pension payments by a record 40 per cent. The armed forces pensions’ bill for the first six months of the current fiscal, from April to September, has turned out to be about Rs. 8,000 crore higher than for the corresponding period last year. The scheme benefits nearly 24 lakh pensioners of the armed forces.