One Rank One Pension: A legacy restored

OROP is a crucial and long-standing demand for Indian armed forces veterans that is deeply rooted in history. Its primary aim is to ensure that retired personnel of the same rank and length of service are treated equally, regardless of their retirement date. The implementation of OROP on 1 July 2014 and the subsequent five-yearly revisions, has significantly impacted the lives of retired armed forces personnel.

Evolution of OROP

Following the partition of India, the erstwhile office of the Controller of Military Accounts (Pensions) was bifurcated, and the pension work was transferred to the office of the Controller of Military Accounts (Pensions), Allahabad, in September 1947. The office commenced functioning under the administrative jurisdiction of CGDA, New Delhi. The office was re-designated as CDA(P), Allahabad in 1951.

The recruitment of jawans below officer ranks was based on the colour scheme; however, with the evolving geostrategic environment, the Indian armed forces also recruited reservist troops. Young men were recruited under colour service for 8/9 years and held as reserve for the next 7/6 years who got reduced pensions. Those who served for ten years got a separate pension. By 1985, there were fourteen categories of pensioners.

Quite naturally, the veterans sought a rational system. To understand the quest for OROP, one must dive into what happened after the 1971 Indo-Pak War, India’s finest military victory that changed the geography of the Indian subcontinent. The Third Pay Commission was constituted a year before the war and concluded two years after. The Third Pay Commission abolished the separate pay Commission for the Armed Forces and formulated an equivalence between the Armed Forces and Civilians.

The Third CPC marked the starting point of all further anomalies in Defence pensions.

By decreasing the pension of jawans below officer ranks from 70 to 50%, CPC cut down on the edge that Armed Forces personnel enjoyed. The Third CPC increased the pension of civilian employees from 30 to 50%.

By 1986, veterans began to demand OROP. Before the Fifth Pay Commission, “One Time Increase” was granted by the government in 1992 and later, the Fifth Pay Commission amalgamated all pre-1996 pensioners into just one category.

Consequently, we now have only two types of pensioners: the pre-1996 pensioners and the post-1996 retirees, which narrowed down pensioners from 14 categories to two categories, thus creating problems for themselves by not further complicating the intricacies involved in all of the 14th categories.

Before the 6th Pay Commission report, the government of India constituted a parliamentary committee headed by Shri Madan Lal Khurana. The committee estimated an ample sum would have to be paid to the veterans, amounting to Rs 4,000 crore, if they chose to admit arrears in 1996. This committee also ran into the same imbroglio as committees before them. The 6th Pay Commission also did not address the issue of OROP. Subsequently, post-2006, jawans had been awarded about a 40% increase while JCOs an increase of about 20% from their pensions as of 01 Jan 2006. Their pensions were increased and brought at modified parity with post-2006 retirees twice on 01 Jul 2009 and 24 Sep 2012. The government modified changes only for the JCOs and ORs, not the officers. Military Service Pay (MSP) was introduced in 6th Central Pay Commission (CPC) monetarily compensated all ranks of the Armed Forces Officers upto the rank of Brigadier, accounting for compensation for intangible aspects of military service. It accounts for a range of "hardships and disadvantages" which cannot be evaluated while assessing pay comparability.

Five-Yearly Equalisation

On implementation of OROP in 2015, pension of Pre-2013 pensioners was upgraded to average pension of the corresponding rank and length of service of those who retired in the calendar year 2013. Thus on implementation of OROP the pension of Pre-2013 pensioners was in effect approximately 96% of those who retired in 2013 and with each passing year this difference reduced and by the fifth year the above mentioned percentage came down to approximately 80%. Again on each of the succeeding FiveYearly equalisation of pension the past pensioners were upgraded to approximately 95% of the current retirees. OROP-3 has restored the past legacy of giving the Armed Forces personnel their rightful edge in pay and pensions over their civilian counterparts.