New Delhi, Sep 6: Former military personnel ended an indefinitie hunger strike on Sunday but said they would continue their protests over the one rank one pension (OROP) scheme till the government resolved the sticking points such as the period for revising pensions and the composition of a review panel, among other issues.
The move came on the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that military personnel who retired prematurely will benefit from OROP, an issue that emerged as a bone of contention soon after the Centre announced the implementation of the scheme on Saturday.
Ex-servicemen, however, reiterated the revision of pension after a gap of five years as announced by the government -- in the face of their demand for a revision in every two years -- was not at all acceptable to them and raised objections against the appointment of a one-man judicial commission to examine various aspects of OROP.
Veterans want a deadline of 30 days for the panel to submit its report, while the government said it will take at least six months. Ex-servicemen also demanded that the panel have five members, including three veterans.
Addressing a press conference in Delhi's Jantar Mantra, Major General (retired) Satbir Singh, leader of the association leading the agitation, said protests will continue till four specific points raised by the ex-servicemen are not accepted by the government.
"We urge all those who are on hunger strike to withdraw it as the PM has clarified on the issue of premature retirement. But our protest will continue till the government accepts four points raised by us," he said, adding veterans may resume hunger strike again if the government failed to resolve the pending issues.
"We thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for fulfilling the promise of one rank-one pension. We thank the defence minister but there are four issues to be resolved including the period of equalisation of pension," Singh said.
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