‘Sadda haq ethe rakh’: Ex-servicemen stage protest over OROP

Mohali, July 25 : ‘Sadda haq ethe rakh’, this was the chant of ex-servicemen who staged a protest here on Saturday over the implementation of the One Rank One Pension (OROP) policy.The protestors wore black bands around their forehead and shouted slogans denouncing the government. “We want to express our anger today by wearing black bands. The OROP implementation is pending for the last 40 years….It has been 18 months since this government came to power and they have not done anything,” said Brigadier Harwant Singh, All India Defence Brotherhood president.The OROP scheme has been a long-standing demand of ex-servicemen’s associations and relates to payment of uniform pension to defence forces personnel retiring in the same rank with the same length of service, irrespective of their date of retirement.