Letters: The tension over pension

Apropos the report "Govt committed to roll out OROP, says Modi", (May 31), the debate on the "one rank, one pension" (OROP) scheme has become emotionally over-charged to the point that any voice advising caution about OROP is immediately tagged as anti-national. Often, the demand for OROP is linked to the short career spans of the men in uniform. Though there is hardly any shortening of career for three- and four-star officers, other officers are made to retire at younger ages if they fail to make it to the next higher grade, like a major retires at 52, colonel at 54 and thus rising to 60 for Lt Generals. There is a justification for providing that officers retiring earlier than the age of 60 will still get pension as if they served up to 60 years; this will take care of the shortened career to some extent. This, however, does not justify OROP, which basically means that the armed forces' pension will be inflation-indexed and get full benefit of subsequent pay commission awards.

An argument is often made that the armed forces risk their lives for the nation. This is true and they deserve our gratitude. So do the various para-military forces, both at the border and disturbed areas, such as Maoist terrains, the fire brigade staff, and even the police to some extent. Their service conditions, living quarters, training, pay, facilities, medical, equipment and so on seem to be no one's concern. OROP for defence forces will trigger the same for para-military and civil services, where now pension has been converted to a defined contribution scheme.

P Datta Kolkata

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