Who is Afraid of the Truth in OROP?

Why the Government Must Tell 125 Crore Indians

The Simple Truth about One Rank One Pension (OROP)

*      *      *      *      *

"Satyameva Jayate" (Sanskrit: सत्यमेव जयते satyam-eva jayate; literally "Truth alone triumphs") is amantra from the ancient Indian scripture Mundaka Upanishad. It was adopted as the national motto of independent India.

On 14^th August 2015, the Delhi police, which functions directly under the Central Govt, and the NDMC, by their action provided the much needed media exposure to the ESM agitation. It also united the other ‘sitting on the wall’ ESM organisations.

On 11^th September 2015, in Chandigarh, the PM, by those few words re-invigorated the reportedly ‘factionalised’ ESM into protesting with much more vigour. Proof is the attendance at ESM rally on 12^th September 2015 and the myriad photographs doing the rounds on social media. Most print media, with the exception of The Hindu, either blanked off or covered desultorily and the usually voluble TV channels did not cover the rally but also did not consider the impact of the social media.

The PM’s words achieved one aim. It may have been a political speech, as some retired BJP supporters amongst ESM said, or it was the PM’s anger at the continuing agitation by ESM in New Delhi or their statements about campaigning in Bihar, but the words reinforced the feeling that the Govt’s professed love and respect for the Jawan conceals disdain for ESM and widows of ESM.

But, all ESM, and their widows to a large extent, are a literate lot, and they ask many questions. They find answers to most questions on the Govt’s websites, but they ask more questions that only the Govt can answer. The ESM and widows ask

Do 125 crore Indians know what OROP really is and why it was being requested, and is now demanded?

Does it mean that two different Governments led by two different political parties, aided by a phalanx of bureaucrats misunderstand the reasons, the concept, the aim, and the implications – financial, administrative, and legal – of OROP?

If approving OROP was a desperate UPA’s electoral death throes, then what was the BJP’s repeated “committed to OROP” about?   

Do 125 crore Indians know how much the widow of a sepoy, or a Subedar Major or of a Brigadier draw as Family pension?

How has the Govt given away Rs 1, 23, 000 crore from the money of the poor (Rs 63, 000 crores as tax exemptions to rich corporates in 2014-15, Rs 20, 000 crores to offset losses of Public Sector Banks (PSB) by their bad loans of poor people’s money to offenders, and Rs 40, 000 crore of the poor to Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI) in 2015-16),

If outgo of Rs 8300 crore or Rs 10, 000 crore or Rs 12, 000 crore for OROP will drive India into a Greece like situation, as some learned commentators, editors and retired bureaucrats predict, then what about the amount stated above?

Pension for Government’s Civilian Employees vis-à-vis ESM

Compare that with any retired Class B and IAS officer with equivalent years of service and the truth will be apparent from what is reproduced below: (source: http://www.pensionersportal.gov.in/retire-benefit.asp): -

The minimum eligibility period for receipt of pension is 10 years. A Central Government servant retiring in accordance with the Pension Rules is entitled to receive superannuation pension on completion of at least 10 years of qualifying service (see qualifying service for Defence Forces personnel above) [emphasis supplied].

Compare this with 15 years for ORs and 20 years for Officers of the Defence Forces to be eligible to draw pensions.

In the case of Family Pension for a Govt’s civilian employee the widow is eligible to receive pension on death of her spouse after completion of one year of continuous service or before even completion of one year if the Government servant had been examined by the appropriate Medical Authority and declared fit for Government service [emphasis supplied].

PCDA (Pension) states that a Family Pensioner of the Defence Forces (source: http://www.pcdapension.nic.in/gen/faq.htm), inter alia, states, “No family pension is admissible in cases where the ex-servicemen was not a pensioner on the date of his death.”

For civilians to draw family pension, there is nothing to do with dying in the first year of continuous service or even within 15 years or 20 years of service, like many of the jawans and officers are shot dead by terrorists before they are eligible for pension!

The widows (nearly 6 lakh) of ESM are near penury as they are paid just 30% of the last pay drawn by their husbands as family pensions. The family pension for a Group X (the highest paid) Sepoy’s widow is Rs 3672 + 113% Dearness Relief (DR) = Rs 7822 per month (Rs 260 per day) to Rs 6507 +113% DR = Rs 13859 per month (Rs 462 per day) for the widow of a Gp X Sub Maj who served 30 years but whose pension reached the top of the pension table at 28 years?

Compare the above with the MGNREGA daily wages for 2015-16 for unskilled, unemployed labourers for some States: -

Haryana – Rs 251; Chandigarh – Rs 239; Punjab – Rs 210; lowest Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh Rs 159.

(Complete text of F No. J-1011/1/2009-MGNREGA (Pt III) dated 31^st March 2015, at nrega.nic.in.)    

 

Widows of Lt Col, Colonel, Brigadier draw Rs 15759, Rs 16677 and Rs 17487 + 113% DR as family pensions, respectively.

The ESM amongst Officers cadre are no better – Lt Col’s pension Rs 21490 at 20 years of service, Colonel’s pension Rs 26265 at 26 years of service and Brigadier’s pension Rs 29145 at 30 years of service. It is all taxable and that is why they have to find employment outside.

(Source: Circular Nos. 501 & 547 for Other Ranks Pensioners and No. 500 & 548 for Officers’ Pensioners issued by PCDA (and updated on 11^th September 2015).

Defence Forces Pensioners are Income Tax Payees

Of the 30 lakh ESM pensioners, including family pensioners, a majority pay income tax, and many uninformed (sic?) trolls think defence pension is income-tax exempt.

ESM contributed part of the Rs 63, 000 crore tax exemption & incentives gifted to the corporate sector, and part of the first tranche of Rs 20, 000 to re-capitalise PSBs’ for the irrecoverable loans they handed out, and part of Rs 40,000 crore the Govt has exempted the FII from paying MAT, and the several hundred crore that is paid to Air India for Air India One’s flights and Rs 40 crore spent of the PM’s 15 trips abroad.

Or why the poor are being deprived to pay OROP of Rs 10, 000 crore to ESM but are not deprived when the Govt foregoes Revenue (taxes) of Rs 63000 crore, gives Rs 20000 crore to PSB and Rs 40000 crore FPI of the poor peoples’ money in 2015-16?

In this context it would be educative for all to read what Shri Uttam Gupta, a financial analyst, has written in the Deccan Herald, 14^th September 2015, in his comment titled Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT), Don’t Override the Judicial Process, inter alia, “After Justice Shah Committee recommended… He (FM) has also promised to come out with an amendment to Section 115J of the Finance Act to exempt all FPIs nt having permanent establishments in India from levy of MAT…….By giving these assurances the Narendra Modi Govt has not only gone back on the principle espoused by the Govt but also pre-empted the judicial process….”    

OROP Commitments and Implementation Issue

Then PM-candidate, by his now famed his oratorical flourishes, raised the forlorn hopes of ESM in Rewari in September 2013, and with his every subsequent assurances and statements of implementation of OROP, kept those hopes high.

Are 125 crore Indians aware of subsequent and recorded on file statements by the UPA’s Raksha Mantri (RM) and the Finance Minister (FM) that “Rs 500 crore was just a token amount and more would be forthcoming as soon as the amount could be worked out?” 

Those pre-election speeches might also have been the reason for the otherwise slow moving Defence Minister of the UPA to constitute a Joint Working Group (JWG), engrave the definition of OROP (equal pension for those with the same rank and same years of service and automatic future enhancements) in the pages of MoD’s files with alacrity, even haste, and set what now seems to be the OROP fireball on its way.  

Jean Paul Sartre said, “Commitment is not just a word. It is an act.” So, the newly formed NDA Govt had its chance of converting that commitment of OROP into fulfilling a promise in the Budget 2014-15.

Though 125 crore Indians, of whom 30 lakh are ESM and widows of ESM, may think that Budgets are made by the FM and his (sealed up in the North Block) bureaucrats, they are by norm, prepared in consultation with the Prime Minister. FM (also the RM till November 2014) must have been aware of the PM’s priorities when he framed the Budgets 2014-15 and 2015-16.

The Budgets for 2014-2015 & 2015-16 make it clear that Ex-Servicemen (ESM) were led up the commitment path till 5^th September 2015 by repeated announcements.

If the 125 crore Indians, the poor and income tax paying ESM & widows, do not believe it, they just need a cursory reading of Demand No. 22, available on the Ministry of Finance website [Source: Notes on Demands for Grants, 2015-2016, MoD, Demand No. 22, and Defence Pensions at indiabudget.nic.in/ub2015-16/eb/sbe22.pdf].

The extract of Demand No. 22 below shows that the FM did not project any demand for OROP and so FM (also the RM) made no provision in Revised Budget 2014-2015, in fact he deducted the Rs 1000 crore he grandly set aside for OROP: -

	Budget 2013-14	Budget 2014-15	Revised 2014-15	Budget 2015-16
Total (in crore rupees)	45493.75	50966.95	49959.79	54466.95

 Note: -1. Pensions and Other Retirement Benefits:. Defence Pensions provides for pensionary charges in respect of retired Defence personnel (including civilian employees) of three Services viz. Army, Navy and Air Force and also employees of Ordnance Factories, etc. It covers payment of service pensions, gratuity, family pension, disability pension, commuted value of pension and leave encashment. The increase in BE 2015-16 is mainly due to normal growth in pensionary benefits and increase in provision towards payment of Gratuity, Commuted Value of Pension and Superannuation and Retirement Benefits. Increase of higher provision is also due to increase in number of pensioners and anticipated provisions of Dearness Relief”(emphasis supplied).

The Note below the table in Demand No. 22 makes one realise the jumla as it shows a conspicuous absence of OROP in thought, word, or deed, in contradiction, if one needs it, to the repeated “assurances and commitment.”

        So, the FM (also RM from 27^th May 2014 to 8^th November 2014) did not even plan for the OROP in Budget 2015-16 and hence the misery of depriving the poor to pay the tax paying ESM & widows.

It took the UPA Govt that never works faster sixteen months to realise that it can pay the Class A Services to reward their incompetence with the Non-Functional Financial Upgradation (NFU), so that performance and promotion of one is presumed to be windfall for the others, even though 2 years later, non-performance notwithstanding! Funnily, no department, the ubiquitous Department of Expenditure included, is aware, in replies to RTI, of how much of the income tax paying ESM and widows and the poor people’s money goes towards that NFU.     

The truth is that in the OROP case, 16 months or so after May 2014, while the Govt gave away as revenue foregone an amount of Rs 62, 398 crores (see Annex 12 on MoF website for more details), the Govt made no realistic provision for OROP either in Budget 2014-15 (wherein the additional Rs 1000 crore earmarked for OROP was deducted in the revised budget when the FM was also the RM. The evidence is there on MoF website but extracted here for ready reference From Implementation of Budget Announcements 2014-15 (pages 33 and 34): -

One Rank One Pension             (Position reported on 30^th January, 2015)

S No. Para No. 

125      140                        Budget Announcement      

We reaffirm our commitment to our brave soldiers. A policy of "One Rank One Pension" has been adopted by the Government to address the pension disparities. We propose to set aside a further sum of Rs 1,000 crore to meet this year's requirement [Nodal Ministry/Department: Ministry of Defence] (emphasis supplied).

Status of Implementation

A working Group was constituted under the Chairmanship of CGDA for examining the proposal. The Working Group after deliberation suggested some possible options for implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP). Meetings were held on 26.8.2014 under the Chairmanship of Defence Minister (emphasis supplied), with Defence Secretary, Secretary (ESW), FA (DS) and CGDA on the implementation of OROP. The modalities are under consideration.                                                                Work in progress

[Source: http://indiabudget.nic.in/]

(Note: FM was also RM from 27^th May 2014 to 8^th November 2014).  

For 2015-16 the RM must have apprised the FM (who was the former RM) of the funds required for OROP.

Now that the Govt is to implement OROP, a process which will be complete when the implementation orders are issued, there is that bogey of the costs and “at the expense of the poor” that is being spoken about.  

Don’t the 125 crore Indians, deserve to be told why the demands of the ESM for OROP deserves so much of their Govt’s disdain?

ESM hope that the PM will tell the truth about OROP in his future speech(es) and uphold the national motto - Satyam Ev Jayate.

Copied from Ariel View.My thanks to him.

Embracing Life's Number One Task

"Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the
right answer to its problems and to fulfil the tasks which
it constantly sets for each individual."
~Dr. Viktor Frankl (1905-1997)
 
Without any shred of doubt life is not life automatically
because we live and breathe. No, life has a spiritual
quality that only some partake in. Many take the common
road, which is laden with the appearance of ease, but is
indeed tougher than it needs to be. Few take the road less
travelled. And few of the many actually see the advantage in
how the few live.
 
God gives people exactly what they want. Where a person
insists on their own way, God insists they should have that
freedom - a freedom to choose for bondage.
 
Life's number one task - the chief objective - is to assess
one's way and make proper passage, one decision at a time.
We all have our problems, as we all have our tasks.
Assessment is the first step in making a plan and executing
it. By our assessment of things we determine the passage we
are to take, and then all we need is courage to act.
 
IT IS A HARD ROAD TO THE EASY LIFE
 
We live in a life of opposite parameters. We act in one way
and we inevitably redeem what we sow, but we are quickly
fooled by impure motives.
 
When we seek the easy life, we end up with a hard life. Yet,
when it is our principle to live diligently and morally,
which is to the many the longer and harder life, we set
ourselves up in the reliability of blessing.
 
When we learn the lesson that taking responsibility for our
lives is blessed, we open a hard gate to the easier life.
Living for God may not be the easy life, but it is easier
than living without God, simply for the fact that living for
the truth provides peace And true freedom, but a freedom
that is exacted by a commitment to pay the price that life
requires us to pay.
 
Life is life and there is no better way than to receive.
 
When we meet the truth of life, and we commit to life beyond
our anxious fears, we allow the truth to speak power into
our lives. When we live in a way that meets our problems and
wrangles with our tasks, not shirking our responsibilities,
we are ready to be blessed by God.
 
***
 
Our problems and our tasks are our responsibility. We cannot
delegate this responsibility. How great it is, then, that we
have a compassionate God who gives us not what we cannot
handle. Our destiny is to execute our responsibilities; to
take the road less traveled. 

Unleash your potential.

Col Rajendra Shukla

THINK

         

This is another story to share with you and it may make you pause and think for a while.

A group of children are playing near two railway tracks, one still in use
while the other disused. Only one child is playing on the disused
track, the rest on the operational track. The train comes, and you are
just beside the track interchange. You could make the train change its
course to the disused track and save most of the kids. However, that
would also mean the lone child playing by the disused track would be
sacrificed; or would you rather let the train go its way?

Let’s take a pause to think what kind of decision we could make.

Most people might choose to divert the course of the train, and
sacrifice only one child.
You might think the same way, I guess.

Exactly, I thought the same way initially because to save most of the
children at the expense of only one child was rational decision most
people would make, morally and emotionally. But, have you ever
thought that the child choosing to play on the disused track had in fact
made the right decision to play at a safe place?

Nevertheless, he had to be sacrificed because of his ignorant friends
who chose to play where the danger was.

This kind of dilemma happens around us everyday. In the office,
community, in politics and especially in a democratic society, the
minority is often sacrificed for the interest of the majority, no matter
how foolish or ignorant the majority are, and how far sighted and
knowledgeable the minority are.

The child who chose not to play with the rest on the operational track
was sidelined. And in the case he was sacrificed, no one would shed
a tear for him except for his close ones.

The person who forwarded the story said he would not try to
change the course of the train because he believed that the
kids playing on the operational track should have known very well
that track was still in use, and that they should have run away if
they heard the train’s sirens. If the train was diverted, that lone child
would definitely die because he never thought the train could come
over to that track!

While we are all aware that life is full of tough decisions that
need to be made, we may not realize that some hasty decisions may
not always be the right one.

This is certainly food for thought.
Let us take a step back, pause and think well, before making tough decisions.

Col Rajendra Shukla

Thoughts Become Things-You Reap What You Sow

If there is something that children are good at, and adults
never do any more, it is the practice of giving time to just
think and dream. When we were just kids, we used to not have
limits to our imagination. However, as we grew up, we forgot
about dreaming and focused more on our daily worries.

Is wishful thinking really wrong? If thoughts become things,
you may wonder, then why didn't you become the president of
your country, or a popular rock star, or the richest man in
the world, when as a kid you did nothing but imagine these
kinds of dreams? 

The answer to that is simple. 

It is because you stopped dreaming, or in a more realistic
perspective, you stopped thinking about your goals and 
consequently also ceased to look for ways you can achieve them.

 You settled for whatever is available.

You Reap What You Sow

Consider your mind as a vast area of land where you can
plant trees, crops or anything you desire. Your mind is a
land of limitless opportunities. That land is yours, and
you're free to do anything with it. Most people in the world
take this land for granted. They do not search the depths of
their minds for answers, much less plant good, fruitful
thoughts into it. 

There are even those who fill their heads with nothing but 
bitterness, frustrations, and discouragement. If the adage 
that says, "You reap what you sow" is true, then it is no 
wonder why people who are jealous of other people and 
frustrated over themselves always fail at whatever they do
and never get what they want. They end up hating themselves
and the world.

Cultivate Your Mind
The law of attraction is true for people who believe in it,
but nothing beats believing in one's self. It beats all the
other theories. The power of your mind is so strong, and
what's wonderful about it is that you can take control of
it. It's your land to cultivate, and yours to plant. 

Do successful people have positive thoughts then?

 Do they take care of their land and plant as many good, fruitful
thoughts as they can in their head? Well, evidently they do.

Here are some of the things that you can do to plant nothing 
but good things in your head. You will be surprised at how easy
things will go your way, moving forward.

How To Make Thoughts Become Things

- Evaluate your life, especially your thoughts.
Are you miserable right now? Or are you perfectly content?
What are your thoughts composed of? Are they filled with
regrets, frustrations and what-could-have-beens? It is only
by knowing and recognizing that you need to take out the
negative and replace them with positive that you can move on
to better things in your life. Otherwise, you can expect to
get stuck in the bitterness of your thoughts.

- Use Positive Affirmations
Once you have gotten rid of the negative "plants" in your
head, you can then focus on the positive. It is only by
thinking positive thoughts that you can make the effort to
make positive affirmations and then say them to yourself. If
you cannot get words of encouragement from other people,
then don't fret. Just make sure you hear yourself say these,
and you'll be okay.

- Create your reality from your thoughts.
If, for example, you want to be a successful corporate head,
then dress like one, act like one and be one. You cannot
just wait, and let discouragement seep in when you get tired
from all of the waiting. Grab and hold on to each
opportunity of whatever will bring you closer to your
dreams. Do this as much as you can.

- Think good thoughts. Think of your goals and let the
subconscious mind do its job.
Do you know that metaphor we used, when we compared our mind
to a land you can plant things with? That's just the
conscious mind. Our subconscious mind is much more vast. It
is an undiscovered forest with many treasures in it. When we
think of positive thoughts, we feed our subconscious with
answers, with realizations and possibilities that will pop
out in our daily activities without us knowing where they
actually came from.

Do you have moments that you surprise yourself, as to why
you were able to know something, or why you were able to do
something you thought was seemingly impossible? 

That's your subconscious at work. 

Just think good and positive thoughts consistently, and you
can be sure that your subconscious mind will keep surprising
 you.

It will help you reap what you have sown.

Unleash your potential,

Col Rajendra Shukla

LIVING A LIFE THAT MATTERS

If you are alive today then you have two choices; you can
live a life that has no real substance or you can live a
life that matters. What's the difference?

To get up everyday, go to work, come home, relax, spend time
with family and loved ones only to go to bed and repeat that
cycle every day is not a fulfilling life. Yes, it is
functional. It may even pay the bills. But your life is
about much more than just paying the bills.

What about a life where you still get up, go to work and
come home to relax with family and friends but to find more
than that. To discover that there are hurting people all
around us who can use a hand up instead of a handout. To
inspire, encourage and enable people to get back up again.
To go to bed each night feeling like your contribution to
someone else's life has made a difference is a great way to
end the day.

No matter what accomplishments you may be able to do in your
lifetime, the things that will have the longest lasting
effect are the things you do that impact another person's
life in a positive way. To feed the hungry when you are able
to eat each day and make that happen for others is great; to
clothe the naked when your closet is full of clothes is
fulfilling. To visit the sick, comfort the lonely and show
compassion to the hurting gives you that warm, fuzzy feeling
in your heart.

What matters most to you? What encourages you each day to
get up and keep on keeping on? What offers you the most
fulfilment? Do you realize that you were put here on this
earth for a reason? Every life, no matter how insignificant,
matters. Actually there are no insignificant lives. 

Some of us may do things that warrant more attention, make more
money or end up in the public eye. But a mother who cares
for her children has a significant life. A father who cares
for his sick parents has a significant life. 

A teacher who impacts the lives of her students has a life
that matters.No matter where a person is in life, if they
make someone else's life better, they are doing something 
that matters.

Live for more than yourself. Make the lives of others better
because you are alive.

Col  Rajendra Shukla

IS RSS AND MODI-SHAH PARTY READY TO ACCEPT CHALLENGE GIVEN BY DR SWAMY

Forces have now started to gear up against Amit Shah and Modi nexus. The recent statements made by Dr Swamy in a TV Channel only speaks of the disenchantment with  Amit Shah.Dr Swamy was emphatic in saying Amit Shah did not replied to his letter written to Amit Shah. BJP cadre is known to speak openly about conduct of tainted  Shah who is arrogant and at times insulting to some MP and senior functionaries.Soon Shah need to be replaced by most popular Sanjay Joshi.

What is stopping PM Narendra Modi to induct Dr Swamy as FM or Dy PM?What is so special about Arun Jaitly as FM?He has let down Armed Forces and their fath in  PM on OROP. His way of working is as good as any Congress minister.May be Sonia Gandhi has influenced Modi Government,not to induct Dr Swamy as Minister.Who is the conduit of Sonia in Modi Govt?Sonia and Modi know fully well,that Dr Swamy without being in Govt can send Dynasty in Jail with legal prowess.So what happens if he is a Minister.That is dangerous for Sonia to even think.
Dr Swamy must be inducted in RS and handed over charge as FM.One declaration of No Income Tax will bring all State Assemblies in BJP's bag.Why RSS and Modi wasting time with Arun Jaitly. Make him full time I&B minister. 

Sanjay Joshi is back with a bang and is active in BJP though no position is given to him so far. Joshi’s posters, despite the threat, are once again back on display. The speculation is that this time the threat is serious to Modi and Shah. Come December, the anti-Modi-Shah, leaders in the BJP want to ensure that Shah is replaced and sent to where he belong. And this time leading the race is Sanjay Joshi. RSS  thinks Sanjay Joshi should take over as the BJP president. Joshi has the support of,  among others, L K Advani,  Sushma Swaraj, Vasundhara Raje,  Govindacharya, Uma Bharti, Gadkari, Parrikar and Rajnath and a host of leaders who rose with the support of Sanjay Joshi few years back when Joshi was National General Secretary Organization .

If RSS wants BJP to be strong with Sansakara of Hindutva then Dr Mohan Bhagwat and Bhaiyyaji Joshi will certainly make Sanjay Joshi next BJP President.

Of late in last one year Majority Hindus, inspite of voting Narendra Modi with 282 seat,feel badly let down.Nothing has been done by Narendra Modi as PM for Hindus or in the larger interest of Hindus.Issue of Ram Mandir which is core at the heart of Millions of Hindu has not yet been touched by Modi-Shah combine.Article 370 is kept at the back burner while BJP tied up with Anti National PDP to form a Govt.Which is an unholy alliance of demonic sort.On asking question from Amit Shah on construction of Ram Mandir he sarcastically replied that for that 375 sets in LS should be given to BJP. Shameless as usual Shah is not thank full to Majority Hindus who Voted out Anti Hindu Congress to bring back focus on Hindutva, A majority Government after 30 years in the country. No mention of Common Civil Code,National Family Planning Policy,Removal of Article 370,Removal of Politically Motivated Cases on Hindus etc.

Time has come to discuss thread bare all policies adopted by this Govt.Fresh look at BJP organisation by removing Amit Shah and his cronies from BJP organisation immediately.

Is RSS & BJP ready to adopt changes immediately?