PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh with senior party leaders in Chandigarh on Friday. Tribune photo: Manoj Mahajan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 4

PPCCchief Captain Amarinder Singh today led a 20-member delegation to submit a memorandum to Governor VP Singh Badnore seeking Centre’s intervention for providing justice to the family of ex-serviceman Ram Kishan Grewal, who committed suicide protesting against an inordinate delay in OROP implementation.The Governor assured Amarinder that the memorandum would be forwarded to the Centre at the earliest and the government’s response would also be conveyed to him. Among the senior leaders who accompanied the PPCC president were senior party leader Ambika Soni, party’s Punjab affairs incharge Asha Kumari and former Union Minister Santosh Choudhary, besides PCC senior vice-president Laal Singh and Leader of Opposition in state Assembly Charanjit Singh Channi.

PROMINENT VETERANS (ESM) PART OF DELEGATION

Lt Gen Shergill,Lt Gen Jasbir Dhariwal ( Chief Patron Sanjha Morcha), Maj Gen SPS Grewal, Col Ranjit Boparai (President Sanjha Morcha),Col Charanjit Singh Khera(Gen Secy Sanjha Morcha cum Socila Media coordinator ESM PPCC), Col Bhag singh (Chairman ESM PPCC), 

Lt Gen  Mau Shergill briefed  the  governor about the sad state of Handling  the implementation of OROP  and the death of Sub Ram Kishan Grewal.

Lt Gen JS Dhariwal briefed the governor about the Anomalies of in the OROP notification issued by the Govt, , Col Bhag Singh about the existing anomalies still pending of previous pay commissions, and Col CJS Khera about the irresponsible statements of National Leaders on the death of Sub Ram Kishan Grewal that of tGen VK Singh, Mr Parrikar, and PM directing banks now to release Banks the enhanced Pensions , instead of Mr Arun Jately, he also mentioned that its only Punjab & Sindh bank which have released the latest pension slabs and all other banks are awaiting Finance Minister orders of Mr Arun Jately.

Cong men give memo to DC

Muktsar, November 4

The district Congress on Thursday staged a protest at the entrance of the District Administrative Complex here against the Centre for “ill-treating” AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi when he had gone to meet the family of ex-serviceman Ram Krishan Grewal in Delhi.The activists, led by local MLA Karan Kaur Brar, Gurmeet Singh Khudian and Bhai Harnirpal Singh and handed over a memorandum to the DC. — TNS

OROP slugfest: Modi lying, says Cong

Youth Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring (C) with party activists at a demonstration over OROP in New Delhi on Friday. Photo by Manas Ranjan Bhui

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 4

Political slugfest over suicide by an ex-serviceman and the “One Rank, One Pension (OROP)” scheme continued today with the Finance Minister and the Defence Minister joining issue with the Congress, even as AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi stepped up offensive against the government, charging PM Narendra Modi of “lying’’ on OROP.While Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said Rahul was politicising the suicide and “no one should try to change a personal tragedy into political gain,” Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said it was the Modi government which had resolved the four-decade-old issue.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Rahul, accusing the PM of “lying”, said what retired soldiers  were getting was “enhanced pension”, insisting that the demand for OROP remained unfulfilled. “What PM says is OROP is actually pension enhancement. The PM should stop lying on the issue,” he said after interacting with a group of ex-servicemen at the AICC headquarters this afternoon.Speaking to mediapersons, the Defence Minister said he had asked the officials to expedite paper work to ensure all beneficiaries got pension under OROP within the next two months. Of the nearly one lakh pensioners who are yet to get the enhanced amount, he said a majority did not have the requisite documents. The department concerned had been asked to reconstruct the files and, if necessary, seek affidavits that would be processed. Sources in the Ministry of Defence said the government’s commitment towards implementation of OROP could be gauged from the fact that the budget allocation had gone up from Rs 54,000 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 82,000 crore in the current fiscal.The figure would actually be touching close to Rs 90,000 crore under the revised estimates for 2016-17.As for the calculation mistakes that figured in the case of deceased subedar Ram Kishan Grewal, the sources said the data for different categories/periods ran into 195 tables which was processed at 22 pension processing centres. Conceding that the soldier who committed suicide ought to have got Rs 3,026 more than his Rs 22,608 pension amount, they said, an  error had occurred as he was eligible to draw one pension unlike most soldiers who were entitled to draw two pensions under different schemes.The ministry, at a meeting held with ex-servicemen’s associations and bank representatives on October 24, had directed the banks at the processing centres to monitor complaints on calculation errors, the sources added. Meanwhile, with the rise in the number of pensioners every month, the ministry has begun a pilot project to provide e-pension payment orders to new retirees.

What they said…

• It doesn’t behove senior national leaders to exploit a tragedy of this kind, particularly in intensive care units of the hospitals. A more responsible behaviour is expected of them. — Arun Jaitley, Finance Minster
• The demand for OROP remains unfulfilled… What PM says is OROP is actually pension enhancement. ThePM should stop lying on the issue. — Rahul Gandhi, Cong vice-president