New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said there was no "standardised definition" for the One Rank One Pension scheme for retired defence personnel on Tuesday, adding that the earlier interpretation of revision after every retirement was not viable.
Jaitley was responding to a question by Biju Janata Dal (BJD) member Anubhav Mohanty in the Rajya Sabha, who wanted to know why the definition of OROP had been changed.
"OROP has been a long-standing demand as far as defence forces are concerned. It did not have a standardised definition, as there were different interpretations given," Jaitley said.
"After a detailed consultation between the government and the organisation of the retired defence personnel, the Defence Ministry came out with a proposal that was announced in 2015 which the government has committed itself to implement. Under that proposal, the revision takes place every five years," he said.
Jaitley said the government has the responsibility to spend on various areas, adding that defence forces "certainly is one of the prime areas". He also said the pay commission for central government employees "meets" every 10 years.
"Pay commission meets every 10 years, in case of armed forces it is five years and that is a decision the government has taken," he said.
Groups of former servicemen have been calling the five-year revision a distortion of the definition of OROP, and have approached the Supreme Court on the issue.
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