Days after the government formally notified the OROP scheme, defence minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday said that the behaviour of ex-servicemen who were protesting was unlike that of a soldier.
"This is unlike a soldier. Whoever are still protesting despite the announcement are being misguided," PTI quoted him as saying.
According to PTI, the minister said that those who had grievances can approach the judicial commission, which will be set up for this purpose. He had also said on Monday that while citizens in a democracy have the right to voice their demands, not all of them can be fulfilled.
If you ask me, my single biggest achievement of year is getting #OROP, this was not an easy task: Manohar Parrikar pic.twitter.com/jytM8H53bu
— ANI (@ANI_news) November 10, 2015The government on Saturday formally notified the OROP scheme, but many veterans have not accepted it since it does not meet several demands that they had made.
The PTI report states, "The notification does not include the demands for an annual equalisation of revised pension, for pegging the pension to the maximum of the current pensioners, and for appointing an expert commission with serving military personnel and ex-servicemen representatives."
Several ex-servicemen returned their medal in Delhi on Tuesday protesting against the government's notification implementing OROP.
"We asked for a periodic review every year but they made it five years. The base year was taken as 2013 as against our demand of using 2014. They had told us they would fix highest of the grade but fixed an average. No representative was taken from our side. We have fought the war in 1961, 1962 and 1965 and in 2015 we have to fight a war against our own people. The government should feel ashamed," V K Gandhi of the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement told The Times of India.