Ludhiana: Four ex-servicemen climbed atop a water tank here and threatened to commit suicide by jumping off it if their demands regarding the One Rank One Pension (OROP) issue were not met, police said. Ex-servicemen Harbhal Singh, Pargat Singh, Gurdial Singh and Kartar Singh, all residents of Taran Taran, said they would end their lives by jumping off the water tank if the government did not accept their demands.
The army veterans are protesting under the banner of Voice of Ex-Servicemen Society that has retired JCOs and NCOs from across the country as its members. SHO Beant Juneja’s efforts to persuade them into ending their protest did not yield any positive results. The protest was underway till the filing of this report.
National coordinator of Voice of Ex-Servicemen Society Bir Bahadur Singh said the ex-servicemen would continue with their protest till the government agrees to their demands. He accused senior retired officials of hijacking the slogan of the OROP issue which, he claimed, was originally given by the officials junior in rank to them.
Bir Bahadur Singh listed their main demands — equal benefits for all defense personnel irrespective of rank which include disability pension, widow pension, service pension, transparency in grant of bravery medals, equality for allotment of licenses of security agencies, freedom of sepoys languishing in Pakistan jails.
