Dear Colleagues,
Some news reports indicate that the Hon’ble PM has assured that he would take personal interest in resolving the OROP issue. If correct, it is a good development. We owe gratitude to the entire ESM community for their efforts leading to a situation where the PM himself has reportedly decided to get personally involved.
The reports further state that the PM has directed defence ministry to hold fresh meetings with ex-servicemen to deal with this demand.
While the above are encouraging signs, in real terms these reports indicate nothing more what could be gathered from the Hon’ble President’s speech to the joint session of Parliament and the subsequent statements by the Hon’ble Ministers. Nowhere is there any hint that OROP would actually be granted. Only thing that can be said with reasonable certainty is that the OROP issue is still not dead and buried.
Under such a scenario it may not be advisable to relax in our pursuit of OROP. We should continue our efforts, including depositing of medals, which has been the single most effective form of struggle so far.
Best regards,
Lt Gen (Emeritus) Raj Kadyan, PVSM, AVSM, VSM,
Chairman IESM
