UPA didn't get time to implement its OROP decision, says Chacko

Congress leader P.C. Chacko on Sunday said that the UPA Government had originally taken the decision on One Rank One Pension (OROP), but did not get the time to implement it.

"If anybody asks the question who implemented the OROP, it is the UPA Government. We did not get time for full implementation," Chacko told ANI.

"The NDA Government said that they would implement the OROP. But after a lot of discussion, they rejected all the six points," he added.

Chacko slammed the NDA Government and said it has betrayed the ex-servicemen on OROP and that the Prime Minister must not take credit for the declaration on OROP.

"Prime Minister cannot take any credit for any step that was taken. Prime Minister should be blamed for distorting the whole thing in such a way that the majority of the servicemen are not benefitted," Chacko said.

"If what they have announced is to be implemented, 46 percent of the servicemen would go out of this net. Those who took voluntary retirement are not included. It's a betrayal," he added.

Commenting on the one person committee set up by the government to look into the future problems of ex-servicemen, Chacko said: "If the NDA Government has nothing to hide then there should not be any difficulty in taking the representatives of the ex-servicemen in the committee."

The NDA government on Saturday announced the implementation of the OROP. However, ex-servicemen weren't 'fully satisfied' by the decision as six out of the seven points were rejected by them.