The revision of OROP will benefit 25.13 lakh Army veterans, Union minister Anurag Thakur said. The Cabinet also decided to extend the free foodgrain scheme of the government.
The Union Cabinet on Friday revised the One Rank One Pension scheme for retired Army personnel at an estimated additional annual expenditure of ₹8,450 crore. The arrears from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2022, will be given and the revision will benefit approximately 25.13 lakh Armed Forces pensioners. Armed Forces Personnel who retired before June 30, 2019, will be covered under this revision, Union minister Anurag Thakur announced. “More than 25.13 lakh veterans will be benefitted from this decision. My gratitude to the Prime Minister for fulfilling the commitment given to the Ex-servicemen of this country,” defence minister Rajnath Singh tweeted.
“You are all aware that One Rank One Pension was a long-standing demand of our Army veterans, but no previous government paid heed to this. When PM Modi came to power in 2014, he fulfilled the demand and the OROP was started in 2015, with effect from 2014,” Anurag Thakur said briefing on the Cabinet decisions.
The arrears will be disbursed in four half-yearly instalments but family pensioners or specially and liberalised family pensioners or gallantry award winners will get the arrears in one installment, the minister announced.
Free foodgrain scheme extended
The free foodgrain scheme under the National Food Security Act which was started during the pandemic will be extended, the Cabinet decided. More than 80 crore people will get free foodgrains without needing to pay a single rupee till December 2023. Union minister Piyush Goyal announced that the government will spend around ₹2 lakh crore per year for this.
