REPORT OF
EX-SERVICEMEN RALLY ON 1 FEB 2015 SUNDAY AT JANTAR MANTAR
ORGANIZED BY
IESM
Dear Veterans
The rally started at 1000h on 1 Feb 2015 Sunday at Jantar Mantar.
By 1100h the venue was full.
The rally was attended by more than 8000 ex-servicemen from
sepoys to Generals and more than 100 families. Veterans' of all three
services recorded their presence and demanded early release of
notification for OROP. The mood in the rally was upbeat and all
veterans exuded confidence and thanked IESM for taking up
the problems of ex-servicemen and bringing them to the center
stage. Ex-servicemen were very appreciative of the help being given by the
pension, ECHS and CSD div of IESM. Veterans exhorted the IESM
leadership to continue the fight on behalf of ex-servicemen and their
families with the Government till
their demands were accepted by the Government. They all appreciated the stand of IESM for calling this rally to remind
and request the Government for early release of notification. ESM praised IESM
for declaring that this rally is not to confront the Government but it has been
organized to assist the Government to over-rule the objections by the
bureaucracy for release of OROP.
The delegation from following states attended the rally.
1. Andhra Pradesh
2. Bihar
3. Chandigarh
4. Delhi
5. Gujrat
6. Haryana
7. Himachal Pradesh
8. Madhya Pradesh
9. Maharashtra
10. Punjab
11. Rajasthan
12. Tamil Nadu
13. Uttarkhand
14. Uttar Pradesh
Speakers; more than 50 speakers including women
speakers addressed the rally. They exhorted the Governing body of IESM to
increase pressure on the Government and
confirmed their resolve that
ex-servicemen would not accept anything less than full OROP.
Gist of Speeches; All the speakers were applauded by the
crowd. All speakers encouraged the IESM to continue the fight for
fulfillment of demands of ex-servicemen and fight for justice and equality.
Speakers after speaker asked one question to the Government what is holding the Government in
taking a decision on the OROP, which has been passed by two Parliaments and is
personal commitment of PM of India? All present shouted that we would not rest
till OROP is granted for all ORs, JCOs and officers'. All speakers
explained the meaning and origin of OROP.
Speakers also criticized the Government policies of neglecting
the defense personnel after extracting juice from their life and
thereafter forgetting them. Army personnel are forced to retire
after service of 20 years and at the age of 37 to 40 years. This is
the time in their life when they have maximum responsibilities
and have old parents to look after but are without a job and on meager
pension. It should be the responsibility of the Government to
give them job till 60 years of age as is the case of all Government
employees.
Speakers warned all present and the ex-servicemen community at
large to be very careful from few disgruntled veterans, who had been working
against the interest of IESM. These
veterans were spreading rumors and were collecting funds on the name of IESM.
This activity by these veterans was a fraud on the ex-servicemen community. All
ex-servicemen were requested to give membership fee and donations only by
cheque in favour of IESM a/c no 06162000001330.
Some of the ESM had been spreading rumours about cancellation of the Rally but
despite their propaganda more than 8000 ESM gathered for the rally.
Speakers also expected more improvement in ECHS and canteen
facilities where in they wanted these services to be extended to all the
ex-servicemen in villages, where bulk of the ex-servicemen settle after
retirement.
All the speakers were unanimous in demanding more pensions for
widows. They expressed that the widows were the most neglected segment of
ex-servicemen family. It was surprising that the Govt did not pay any attention
to the widow of a soldier who had given his life for protecting the nation.
IESM Delegation Met the
Raksha Mantri;
IESM delegation consisting of 30 ESMs and widows was invited by
Raksha Mantri to discuss their problems and their expectations of OROP. ESM
from all states joined the delegation and went to Kotah House to meet the RM at
1100h. COAS Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag was also present in the meeting.
Raksha Mantri welcomed all ESM and their families and explained
that he was convinced that OROP is a genuine demand of Armed Forces/ex-servicemen
and must be given. He further expressed that he has gone into all nuances and
finer points of OROP and has understood the OROP and genesis of OROP. He stated
that he has over-ruled the objections of MOD that if OROP is given to Armed
Forces other services will also demand it. He confirmed that Armed Forces
pension should be called Mil Pension and hence other services are not entitled
for it. He appreciated that service conditions of Armed Forces are very
difficult and they need more compassion from the nation and the Government.
He further explained that he is working on the financial effects
of OROP and would soon send the file to Ministry of Finance. He made following
commitments to the delegation.
·
That
OROP would be as per definition approved in the Parliament.
·
That
there will be no dilution in OROP from the approved definition.
·
That
he would approve the file soon and would send it to Ministry of Finance latest
by 17 Feb 15.
·
That
he would personally discuss the OROP with Finance Minister and get it approved
at the earliest and may be within a month.
·
That
OROP will be applicable w.e.f 1 Apr 14 irrespective of its date issuance of
Government letter.
·
That
he is targeting to release OROP letter as per approved definition before End
March 15.
He further explained that he has been quoted out of context about
80% satisfaction. He explained that in any situation there will be some who
would object and his comment on 80% satisfaction level was for them. He again
emphasized that his effort was to ensure that there should be no anomalies in
the letter issued for implementation of OROP. The delegation explained to him
that there will be no anomalies if the approved definition of OROP is followed
without change of its text.
The delegation members brought to his notice the plight of veer
naris. Gp Capt VK Gandhi explained that these widows were denied increase in
pension in 2009 on flimsy grounds by MOD. This increase in pension was given to
all ESMs. This was a very insensitive
decision on part of MOD to deny increase in pension for widows. RM queried from
widows about their pension and their difficulties. He was told that a widow
gets only Rs 3500/ pension and they are living a life of great hardship. RM
sympathized with them and explained that he was not aware of their problems and
would look into these problems. He instructed COAS to put the issue to MOD.
RM explained to the delegation that he has instructed to cancel
all legal cases filed by MOD in case of disabled soldiers.
The issue of grant of arrears of increase of pension from 1 Jan 06
was also brought to his notice Gp Capt VK Gandhi and it was explained that
while central Government employees had already been paid the MOD has not
initiated any action on release of payment. MOD is probably taking shelter that
only litigants will be paid. This is not a valid ground to refuse payment of
arrears. This decision/attitude will force veterans/Armed Forces personnel to
go to court for release of arrears from 1 Jan 06. This will be against the stated
stand of honorable RM. He promised to look into this issue.
The delegation was happy about the commitments made by RM and came
back with an upbeat mood.
The delegation has felt for the first time that there is someone
in Government who is sensitive to their
litany of woes and he is RM of India Mr Manohar Parrikar.
Discussion with COAS Gen
Dilbag Singh Suhag; Delegation
members discussed their problems with COAS after meeting with RM was over. The
delegation explained to COAS that they were facing difficulties in ECHS and CSD
even in areas with high density of veterans. COAS explained that he had
included ECHS and CSD for veterans in his high priority list. He had issued
instructions that ECHS administration needed to be more compassionate in attending
to veterans. His instructions were that atleast two staff members should be
there to welcome all patients coming to polyclinic for treatment. These staff
members would guide or provide wheel chairs to senior veterans on coming to
polyclinic. He was similarly looking into CSD facilities. He also confirmed
that he had issued instructions to commanders that they should liaise with
state CM and improve working of zila sainik boards in the cities and improve
the condition of sainik aaram gahs where-ever available. He assured the
delegation that he was doing his best to take care of veterans because soon he
and other seniors would join veterans on retirement.
Maj Gen Satbir Singh SM,
Chairman of IESM;
Maj Gen Satbir Singh recounted the sacrifices made by the ex-servicemen and
asked the Government that why should a sepoy who had fought in 1962, 1965 and
1971 wars and in 1999 in Kargil war get
less pension than the sepoy who was retiring today. He explained that
Government had now realized that ex-servicemen need more compassion from the
Government and the nation and had in principle approved OROP. He lamented that
notification of OROP has not been released by government on some pretext or
other even after nine months of its approval.
He explained that today’s rally had been organized only to remind
the Government to keep up their promise and release the Government notification
for OROP at the earliest. He informed the gathering that a delegation of about 30
ESM and Veernaris had just met the RM at 1100h today. RM was very sympathetic
to ex-servicemen and widows and he had given his commitment that he would
ensure that OROP file would be sent to MOF latest by 17 Feb 15 and he would
personally follow up with the Finance Minister for its approval. RM had
committed that OROP will be as per definition approved by Parliament and it would
not be diluted. In-fact RM went a step further and told that OROP is special to
only Armed Forces and will not be applicable to other central government
employees. OROP will be called Military Pension and is special to only Armed
Forces.
He invited all ex-servicemen
associations in India to come forward and join hands with IESM and fight for
the right of ex-servicemen. He stated
that unity of purpose is the call of the day and all ESM organizations must
unite to fight for injustice being done to Veterans.
All present roared and shouted that Gen Satbir tum lado hum tumhare saath
hain.
The Gathering shouted slogans
OROP le ke rahenge le ke
rahenge.
Fouji ekta zindabad zindabad.
IESM zindabad.
Chairman thanked veterans for coming for the rally despite
their other pressing works and extreme cold weather.
Admin arrangements; Water, tea, biscuit and Mathhi
arrangements were made for the gathering. It was appreciated by the
veterans. All members of the Core group whole heartedly participated in
making the rally comfortable for the veterans.
Parallel Rallies All over
India; ESM all over India
spread over Varanasi, Kanpur, Mumbai, Secunderabad, Tricity Chandigarh, Chennai
and Trivandrum also presented memorandums to Gov/CM/DC for onward transmission
to Government. One copy of these memorandums was received by IESM office and
was included in the memorandum presented to RM.
IESM appreciates the enthusiasm of state conveners in arranging the rallies
in their area.
Press coverage; Press and media in India
and abroad covered the event. Headline today, INDIA TV, and PTC
channels were present in full form and had recorded the proceedings of the
rally. World media has also reported the event. Local
media all over India also covered the parallel rallies arranged by conveners
Membership; More than 300 members joined
IESM during the rally.
Donations; IESM is very thankful to
veterans who had wholeheartedly contributed funds for the rally. More than
Rs 20000/ were received as donations during the rally. IESM appreciates the contribution of all
veterans and expressed that this money would be used for welfare of
ex-servicemen and realizing the dreams of all veterans and widows.
Vote of Thanks; IESM thanks veterans in making the rally successful. Gen Sec
thanked ESM that they had come from 14 states of India to participate in rally.
Gen Sec thanked veterans for participate in the rally in large numbers despite
extreme cold weather.
IESM thanks Col Alexander
for giving support to design and produce banners and back drop banner for stage
free of cost.
IESM thanks all the
veterans for donating generously for the cause of ex-servicemen.
THE FIGHT FOR OROP WILL CONTINUE TILL NOTIFICATION FOR OROP
IS ISSUED. IESM REQUESTS ALL THE VETERANS' AND SUPPORTERS TO DONATE GENEROUSLY
FOR VETERANS' CAUSE. PLEASE MAKE THE CHEQUES IN FAVOUR OF 'INDIAN EX-SERVICEMEN
MOVEMENT A/C NO 06162000001330.
IESM requests members to not to be misled by anti IESM
propaganda by few politically motivated veterans. IESM has been established for
welfare of veterans and will continue to represent veterans (whether IESM
members of not) with the Government. IESM will dedicate itself in solving
problems of veterans.
The Rally was closed
at 1500h.
Gp Capt VK Gandhi
VSM
Gen Sec IESM
N5, flat no 801,
Narmada block
Vasant kunj
New Delhi 110070.
Mobile
09810541222
1 Feb 2015
IF YOU SEE SOMEONE WITHOUT A SMILE GIVE HIM ONE OF YOURS.
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