Drama at RML: RaGA not allowed to meet kin of deceased ex-serviceman

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi was on Wednesday not allowed to meet the kin of ex-serviceman Ram Kishan Grewal, who allegedly committed suicide over the delay in implementation of the One Rank, One Pension (OROP) scheme, at the RML Hospital here.

Gandhi was not allowed to enter the hospital premises by the security personnel deployed at the entrance gate.

"Naya Hindustan ban raha hai bhaiya (New India is in making)...This is Modi ji's India," the Congress-vice president said after he was denied entry.

Grewal consumed poison last afternoon. However, the cause behind Grewal's suicide is yet to be ascertained.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will be visiting Grewal's family in Bhiwani in Haryana later in the day.

Grewal's son Jaswant urged the government to look into the matter.

"My father sacrificed for the nation. He was demanding the One Rank, One Pension. The Modi Government should think about this," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while celebrating the Diwali with the army and ITBP personnel in Sumdo, Kinnaur, had said that the first instalment of nearly Rs. 5,500 crore has been paid for implementing the OROP scheme.

The Prime Minister also asserted that he has "fulfilled the promise" which he made to ex-servicemen on the issue that has been hanging fire for the last 40 years.

OROP scheme has been a long-standing demand of nearly three-million ex-servicemen and war widows in the country.

It seeks to ensure that a uniform pension is paid to defence personnel, who retire at the same rank with the same length of service irrespective of their date of retirement.