OROP row: Prakash Javadekar says solution "acceptable to all" soon

NEW DELHI: The government today refrained from setting a timeline for resolving the OROP issue but said it is committed to implementing the promise, expressing confidence that a solution "acceptable to all" will be found "very soon".

"We will deliver OROP sooner than later to the satisfaction of all. We will do what is justifiable, what is convincing. After all, we are doing justice to society as a whole...I am not a jyotishi (astrologer) to tell you the exact date. Final solution you will see in few days," Union Minister Prakash Javadekar told.

Rejecting contentions that the government was losing faith of ex-servicemen, he said he was sure that both sides will see reason. "We will deliver what we have promised," he said, but deflected questions on whether the government will implement OROP in toto, as promised.

He said updation of pension every year is an issue.

"Fine capability of politics is to avoid both resentment and financial strain," he said.

On whether government could have handled the OROP issue better, he said, the patience of ex-servicemen was getting exhausted after 10 years of rejection by the Congress governments. "It is their fault that we are correcting," he said.

On the key economic reform measure GST, which government is finding difficult to pass in Parliament due to opposition from Congress, he said, "GST will happen sooner than later. I strongly believe that GST will be rolled out on April 1, 2016. Congress is backsliding on the issue. It was UPA's bill. GST was a critical reform for the country and not only for BJP."

The Minister also denied suggestions that Prime Minister Modi was being obstinate by not talking to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi directly to resolve the issue and said government has reached out to the opposition on many occasions.

Javadekar said government's decision not to re-promulgate land ordinance for the fourth time was "no back-tracking" and that steps were taken to empower states to frame their own laws and decide on the consent clause and social impact assessment.

Charging the opposition with creating confusion and spreading disinformation, he said, government did not want the confusion to persist and hence did not press ahead with the changes it had introduced to UPA's land law through the ordinance.

The Union Minister said government also extended the benefits of compensation, relief and rehabilitation available to farmers under the 2013 Land Act to acquisitions made under 13 central Acts which were not brought under the ambit of the land law by UPA.

Javadekar said through the executive order brought on August 28, the government has given "justice to farmers".

"Ultimately public debate goes forward. The meeting of Niti Ayog and chief ministers attending it provided the answers. All agreed that it should be left to states and we believe in cooperative federalism," he said.

On the quota stir by Patels in Gujarat, he said, it is not going to damage the BJP and will not last permanently.

Javadekar also rejected the contention that the government made a mistake in not allowing Pakistan to meet Hurriyat leaders and discuss the Kashmir issue that led to cancellation of NSA-level talks. He hoped that Pakistan will "learn" from this.

To a question on whether the government was facing "turbulence", Javadekar said, it is a natural phenomena in politics and "what matters is safe landing and safe take-off".

"The pilot is in full control," he said, responding to another question.