Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 3
The one-man Judicial Committee of former Chief Justice of the Patna High Court L Narasimha Reddy, set up by the Centre to look into implementation of the One Rank One Pension (OROP) formula for ex-servicemen and address anomalies arising thereof, will hold public meetings and hearings on the issue.The committee will hold meetings with the retired service fraternity at 19 places across the country and the first public hearing is scheduled to be held at Chandigarh on August 17, it is learnt.While the implementation of OROP was announced by the government last year, many ex-servicemen said the orders issued were not in line with the accepted definition of OROP, thereby denying them the full benefits.A major sore point with the veterans was that their representatives were not involved in the decision-making process and there was no formal system through which they could directly approach the committee and submit their views. The committee was set up in December 2015.The committee’s mandate includes putting forth recommendations on whether to extend the benefit of OROP to reservists, whether the decision to grant benefits of assured career progression under OROP needs to be modified and whether pension tables for more than 33 years of service are to be formulated.The committee will also examine the pension equations between regular officers in the junior rung and their equivalent ranks in the Army Medical Corps, Army Dental Corps, Remount and Veterinary Corps, Territorial Army, Emergency and Short Service Commission officers and honorary ranks.
