Chief Justice (CJI) DY Chandrachud said that we had given time till March 15. How can you order payment in instalments? This is not war, but the rule of law. Defense Secretary withdraw his notification, failing which we will issue a contempt notice to the Defense Ministry. The matter will now be heard after Holi.
One Rank One Pension: There is a latest update on the arrears of One Rank One Pension (OROP) for lakhs of pensioners of the country. The Supreme Court has once again given a big relief to the eligible pensioners of the Armed Forces. The Supreme Court has strongly reprimanded the Ministry of Defense and expressed its displeasure over the issuance of the order to pay the dues in installments. The court has clearly said that under the order, if the payment is not made by March 15, then interest at the rate of 9% will be imposed. The court has sought a personal affidavit from the Secretary, Pension Affairs, Ministry of Defence.
In fact, on January 9, the Supreme Court had given the Center time till March 15 to pay the total OROP dues, after which the Ministry of Defense issued a letter on January 20 to pay the dues in 4 installments, which the ex-servicemen submitted to the court. I challenged On this, Chief Justice (CJI) DY Chandrachud said that we had given time till March 15. How can you order payment in instalments? This is not war, but the rule of law. Defense Secretary withdraw his notification, failing which we will issue a contempt notice to the Defense Ministry. The matter will now be heard after Holi.
Payment till March 15 or else 9% interest
In the matter of pension payment under the One Rank One Pension policy, the Supreme Court reprimanded the Defense Ministry and said that the orders of the court have to be followed. The same has sought a personal affidavit from the Secretary, Pension Affairs, Ministry of Defense and asked why the decision to give pension in installments was taken despite the court order? The Supreme Court warned that we will issue a contempt notice. If the arrears are not paid to the security personnel within the deadline of March 15 set by the court, interest at the rate of 9% will also have to be paid.
Arrears are to be paid by March 15
Earlier, the Supreme Court gave the Center time till March 15, 2023, to pay dues under the ‘One Rank-One Pension’ (OROP) scheme to all eligible pensioners. The court had directed the central government to pay their arrears to all eligible pensioners of the security forces by March 15. The dues must be cleared and there should be no delay in this. Apart from this, the Supreme Court has also given exemption to the Ex-Servicemen Association that if they are not satisfied with the payment of the dues of the Central Government, then they can apply again in the Supreme Court.
Payment will be done in this way, these will be eligible
- It is noteworthy that in December last year, the revision of One Rank One Pension was approved by the Central Government. Giving information, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur had said that more than 20 lakh pensioners were getting its benefits. Now after amendment and 1 July 2014, 25 lakh pensioners will be given the benefit of One Rank One Pension Scheme.
- After the amendment, the arrears or arrears from July 2019 to June 2022 will also be given to the pension scheme. That means a total of Rs 23,638.07 crore will be given. The arrears will be paid in four half-yearly installments. The benefit of this will be given to the retirees and family pensioners from all the defense forces.
- Along with the family pension holders, the widows of the soldiers martyred in the war and the disabled pension holders will also get the benefit of this. It has been implemented from July 1, 2019. It is estimated that this will put an additional burden of about Rs 8500 crore on the government.
