Supreme Court directs Defence Ministry to file note on arrears due under One Rank One Pension scheme
The Hindu
On January 9, the court had given the Ministry three months, till March 15, to comply with its nearly a year-old judgment to pay the arrears in whole
The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to file a three-page note specifying the exact quantum of arrears due to be paid under the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme, while noting that it is “sad” that four lakh retired defence personnel have already died waiting for their pension.
A three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud ordered the government to also detail the modalities of the payment of OROP and “prioritisation” of disbursement, that is, first to defence widows and the oldest of retirees, in the note.
The note has to be filed before the next hearing on March 20.
“Our concern is that our ex-service personnel get the money. It is sad that four lakh people have died,” Chief Justice Chandrachud remarked.
The government, represented by Attorney General R. Venkataramani, has sought an extension of time to pay the entire dues.
“You [government] seem to have enough money for other things, events and projects, but no money to pay pensioners… Four lakh pensioners have died during the pendency of this petition,” senior advocate Huzefa Ahmedi and advocate Balaji Srinivasan, for the pensioners, protested.
“We are entirely with you. It is sad. The arrears will be paid to their families,” Chief Justice Chandrachud addressed Mr. Ahmedi.
In 2021, five women from Mayithara, four of them MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) workers, found a common ground in their desire to create a sustainable livelihood by growing vegetables. Rajamma M., Mary Varkey, Valsala L., Elisho S., and Praseeda Sumesh, aged between 70 and 39, pooled their savings, rented a piece of land and began their collective vegetable farming journey under the Deepam Krishi group.