Raj Kadyan hopeful of announcement on OROP scheme on Aug. 15

Defence expert Lieutenant General (Retd.) Raj Kadyan on Tuesday said he was hopeful that the government would make an announcement on implementation of the One Rank, One Pension (OROP) scheme on August 15.

Lieutenant General (Retd.) Kadyan, along with a delegation of ex-servicemen, had met Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to discuss the OROP issue yesterday.

"The meeting with the Finance Minister was very positive, he is a patient listener. We put forth our points, we asked about the status where it stands today. He has one or two issues of worry from his side to which we adequately responded. We made it very clear that no dilution in the definition that has been worked out by the Koshyari Committee and accepted on the floor of the Parliament will be acceptable to ex-servicemen," Lieutenant General (Retd.) Kadyan told ANI.

"He then clarified that it is matter of days not months. If I go by my own assessment on this, we can hope something to come on 15th August, we are very hopeful. Otherwise the agitation will continue," he added.

The One Rank, One Pension scheme has been a long-standing demand of ex-servicemen. 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.