PM ‘fulfils’ OROP promise on Diwali

Kinnaur/New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said Rs 5,500 crore has been paid for implementing the OROP scheme, an issue that has been hanging fire for the last 40 years, even as he lauded the valour and sacrifice of the armed forces amid tension on the border with Pakistan.
Dedicating this Diwali to the armed forces personnel, he said he has “fulfilled the promise” he made to ex-servicemen on the one-rank-one-pension scheme.
Modi said the issue had been pending for “40 years” as certain people in the previous governments “did not know” about OROP, and therefore “only Rs 500 crore was allocated” for the purpose.
He also said many people thought that if the scheme was not implemented, a section of “ex-servicemen would turn against the government”. He made these remarks while celebrating Diwali with army and ITBP men in Sumdo in Himachal Pradesh’s Kinnaur district.
On the OROP issue Modi said, “The OROP was not about just Rs 200 crore or Rs 500 crore, but Rs 10,000 crore… After I became the PM, and decided that I had to do (implement) it, the entire government lost sleep over it… It was not possible for the government to pay in one go, so I requested the ex-servicemen to accept it in four instalments.
“The money will reach them in four installments. Nearly, Rs 5,500 crore has been paid as the first installment,” Modi said. He said implementation of OROP was his “dream”, which has been “fulfilled”.
Rahul Gandhi had on Saturday questioned Modi government’s resolve to work for soldiers’ welfare, asking the Prime Minister to first implement OROP in a meaningful way and redress their pay anomalies and other grievances.
Meanwhile,Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday celebrated Diwali with soldiers in a remote and strategic area in Himachal Pradesh, adjoining the Chinese border.
Modi also made an unscheduled trip to a village, Chango, and said he was “deeply touched by the impromptu reception and their joy”.
Dressed in olive green and donning a local cap with a green flap adorning dry flowers, the Prime Minister interacted with men from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the Dogra Scouts and the army at Sumdoh.
Sumdoh, some 330 km from Shimla, is located on the border of Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti districts.
Mingling freely with the assembled soldiers and paratroopers, Modi went up to them holding a plate of sweets. At least one soldier offered him a piece of sweet in return, much to the joy of everyone.
He was accompanied by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and the army chief, General Dalbir Singh Suhag.
Modi also met  personnel of the General Reserve Engineering Force (GREF), a wing of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) that maintains highways, at Sumdoh, an official said.
Modi then spent some time with the locals in Chango village in Kinnaur district, known for its delicious apples.
Villagers were taken aback by Modi’s arrival, and then raised slogans hailing him.Dressed in warm clothes, Modi spent time with the residents of the village, including women and children. (AGENCIES)