'Why are you silent on OROP Mr. Modi,' asks Rahul

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his silence with regard to the implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme.

"Defence personnel protect India, they asked for pension, Modi ji promised but when it came to implementing it (OROP), he remained silent," Rahul told mediapersons here.

"This country does not belong to Modi ji's friends, this country belongs to you, it belongs to farmers, it belongs to labourers and it belongs to youth," he added.

Two ex-servicemen, Colonel Pushpendra Singh and Hawaldar Major Singh, began a hunger strike over a demand for the implementation of One Rank, One Pension (OROP) at Jantar Mantar yesterday.

The ex-servicemen had threatened to intensify their agitation after Prime Minister Modi said during his Independence Day address that the decision on the OROP Scheme would be taken soon.

One Rank, One Pension (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.