6 reasons why implementing OROP is a bad idea

The first promise that Prime Minister Narendra Modi made after being declared the prime ministerial candidate of BJP party was undoing years of "UPA government's apathy towards the armed forces "and ensuring the implementation of the long-pending demand for OROP.

But once in power, Modi is faced with the reality of the situation. Here's why the demand for OROP is more an emotive one and not financially feasable.

• Currently the government spends Rs 93,216 crore on salaries of armed forces every year. Once OROP is implemented the annual expenditure on military pensions would be a whooping Rs 75,000 crore. Spending 80% of what the government pays its active army is not financially feasible.

• Govt pays military pensions for a longer period. 80% of the forces retire at 35-40 years. Only 1% retire at 60.

• It isn't fair to consider someone who retires after 30 years of service at par with someone who put in five years.

• Soldiers who are permanently injured in the line of duty are given separate allowances for such cases and it cannot be used as a justification for OROP.

• Unlike other services, the armed forces don't contribute to their own pension. The national pension scheme should have been extended to the army.

• There is also a high possibility of that it could open a pandora's box of similar demands by other services. Already Railway employees begun making such demands. Moreover, paramilitary forces face dangers similar to those faced by the armed forces. How can they be treated differently?