Implementing 'One rank, one pension' scheme an unambiguous commitment of government: FM Jaitley

NEW DELHI: The much-awaited " one rank, one pension" (OROP) scheme for defence personnel will be implemented as it is "unambiguous commitment of the government", said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday.

Addressing a press conference highlighting Modi government's achievements during the first year, Jaitley said that the Ministry of Defence is in dialogue with various stakeholders on the methodology of calculation of pension of ex-servicemen.

Last week, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had said that the "one rank, one pension" scheme for the armed forces is likely to be cleared in a few days.

"OROP proposal is in final stage. The defence ministry has approved it and the finance ministry will clear it in a few days," he had said.

He said it is the first time that a clear proposal has been sent to finance ministry on OROP.

Implementation of 'One Rank One Pension' scheme, is likely to cost the exchequer Rs 7,500 crore to Rs 10,000 crore, Union Minister Rao Inderjit Singh has said in the past.

"It is likely to cost us somewhere between Rs 7,500 crore to Rs 10,000 crore," he had said, adding that the previous UPA government had made a mere announcement with regard to OROP.

"During the past four to five months, we have gone deep into this. We have calculated the entire cost now," he had said.

(With inputs from PTI & TNN)