Letters: Think long-term

Major General Bhalla, in his letter to the Editor (July 13), has passionately argued the One Rank One Pension (OROP) demand. One must respect the feelings of the armed forces. Public support for OROP would be more if its proponents cite the examples of other countries with large armies on how they handle the problem of armed forces personnel retiring at ages younger than in the civilian services.

The OROP backers' case would have been stronger had there been evidence of their support for equity across the ranks while in service and not only equality across times for the same rank. Not all officers retire early: lieutenant generals retire at the age of 58, major generals 56, brigadiers 54, jawans, in their mid-30s. Permanently inflation-indexing pension for armed forces is fiscally irresponsible and an invitation to similar demands from others in the uniformed services. Training and jobs following retirement could be a more sustainable solution.

P Datta Kolkata

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