Retired Short Service Commissioned Officers (SSCOs) of the armed forces have reiterated their demand for pro-rata pension for their services rendered in the armed forces as per the OROP (One Rank One Pension) table.
At a conference of SSCOs held in Mohali, Chandigarh, on 12 February, these officers also decided to press for their demand claiming representation through the electoral process as Punjab and four other states go to the polls this year.
The SSCOs pointed out that in the gazette notification dated 13 February, 2020, the SSCOs who were released from service on payment of gratuity were considered Ex-serviceman. They lamented the fact that till date neither pension, not Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme nor other medical facilities had been provided to them.
There are 8000 released SSCOs from the Armed forces who would be benefited and existing SSCOs presently serving would be incentivized, Captain Harish Puri, a retired SSCO told The Statesman here.
“Short Service Commission is governed by Army Instruction 62 and Army Instruction 64. There is no separate government policy and it is decided at Parliament level. Hence the Central government should formulate policy through legislation in Parliament,” Captain Puri said.
The BJP candidate from Mohali for the coming assembly elections in Punjab Sanjeev Vashisht also visited the SSCOs conference. He assured the ex-servicemen that he would look into their grievances.