OROP New Delhi/UNI: Congress on Saturday slammed the BJP-led government at the Centre over the implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP) policy in the armed forces and accused it of betraying the soldiers and ex-servicemen.
"It is a bitter truth that Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji and BJP have been trying to make 'political capital' out of the sacrifices of our soldiers. The Modi government is at the forefront when it comes to taking credit for their valour.
"But on giving 'OROP' to our soldiers and ex-servicemen, it has a problem," Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala told reporters here.
Earlier in a series of tweets, Surjewala said, "OROP denied - it is now 'One Rank, Five Pensions'. Ex-servicemen and armed forces were betrayed by our own government, which opposed the right of persons holding the same rank, with the same length of service to get the same pension, irrespective of date of retirement."
He urged the Centre to implement OROP as per Congress government's decision of April 24, 2014.
On Feb 19, Congress had accused BJP of doing "vote bank" politics on the sacrifices made by the soldiers for the country.
"The recommendation of the Koshyari Committee on implementation of OROP was accepted by the Congress-led UPA-II government before the end of its tenure. After BJP came to power at the Centre in 2014, it had promised to implement the Committee's recommendation in Parliament.
"It is very unfortunate that the government in 2015 in the name of implementation of OROP brought a policy, which is contrary to the Committee's proposal," Congress MP Shaktisinh Gohil had said then.
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