One Rank One Pension Notified

One Rank One Pension notification cleared by Centre

Centre finally on Saturday cleared the One Rank One Pension notification, hence ending the deadlock between the Centre and ex-servicemen of the country.

Centre finally on Saturday cleared the One Rank One Pension notification, hence ending the deadlock between the Centre and ex-servicemen of the country. The One Rank One Pension scheme will be effective from July 1, 2014.

The government in its annoucement has listed the following points:
1.The arrears will be paid in four half-yearly instalments.
2.All widows, including war widows, will be paid arrears in one instalment.
3.The pension would be re-fixed every five years.
4.Defence personnel who voluntarily retire will be covered under the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme. However, the new pension structure will apply to personnel who have already retired prematurely pension would be re-fixed every five years.
5.The estimated cost of OROP implementation to the exchequer would be Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 crore. Expenditure on arrears would be between Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 crore.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had earlier said the government was trying to issue the notification before Diwali, which falls on November 11. The government had, after negotiations that went on for months, announced on September 5 that it would implement One Rank One Pension, which ensures that armed personnel of the same rank will draw the same pension regardless of when they retired.