Ex-servicemen representatives likely to meet PM on OROP this week

Representatives of ex-servicemen who are protesting against the government's delay in implementing One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme are likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi this week.

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The All India Radio quoted Colonel (retired) Pushpender Singh, one of the ex-servicemen sitting on fast unto death, as saying that no dates for the proposed meeting have been fixed as yet, and added that he had been informed that Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar will meet the Prime Minister first before calling the ex-servicemen representatives for the proposed meeting.

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Key officials of the Prime Minister's Office had held talks with representatives of the ex-servicemen last week who have agreed not to escalate their 71-day agitation for the next ten days.

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On Sunday, Mrinalini Singh, the daughter of Union Minister of State for External Affairs and former army chief General (retired) V K Singh, joined the agitation for implementation of OROP.

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Mrinalini, whose husband is a serving army officer, has also written a 10-page letter to the Prime Minister demanding immediate implementation of the scheme.