New Delhi: The pressure is mounting on the Narendra Modi government to announce implementation of the One Rank One Pension scheme as the health of another Army veteran on a fast unto death is deteriorating.
Havaldar (retired) Major Singh, who is on fast unto death since August 16, could also be evacuated today. "I will sit here only and won't give my fight for One Rank One Pension. The fight is not for myself but for veterans, war widows," said Havaldar (retired) Singh.
The development comes just a day after Army veteran Colonel Puspender Singh was taken to Army Research and Referral Hospital. Doctors said that Colonel Singh condition is now improving and he was evacuated in time.
Three ex-servicemen Colonel (retired) Pushpender Singh of 3 Grenadiers, Havaldar Major Singh of 3 Sikh Light Infantry and Havaldar (retired) Ashok Chauhan of Signals regiment are on a fast unto death after PM Modi failed to announce the implementation of the scheme during his Independence Day speech.
Close to 22 lakh ex-servicemen and over six lakh war widows stand to be the immediate beneficiaries of the scheme, which envisages a uniform pension for the defence personnel who retire in the same rank with the same length of service, irrespective of their date of retirement. Currently, the pension for ex-servicemen is based on the Pay Commission recommendations of the time when they had retired.
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