161 soldiers surrender gallantry medals

CHANDIGARH: Around 161 soldiers from Punjab and the tricity deposited their gallantry medals on Wednesday at a protest rally in Mohali organized by ex-servicemen organizations of Punjab.
Out of the 161 medals which were surrendered by ex-soldiers, 22 were war medals, two Ati Vishisht Sewa Medals (AVSM), 6 Vishisht Sewa Medals (VSM) and 131 were general service medals.
These medals of ex-servicemen would be returned to the President of India in Delhi on March 14.
The rally which was organized at community centre of Phase-5, Mohali was attended by more than 500 retired officers and soldiers from the region.
It was organized by Indian ex-service movement (IESM) in protest against non-consideration of their demand of one rank one pension (OROP) and 27 other problems.
Addressing the gathering on the occasion, Lt Gen (retd) Raj Kadian, chairman, IESM said soldiers fail to meet their legitimate demands because they are not considered vote bank by politicians ruling the country.
He said Sonia Gandhi, in her statement during a rally in Chandigarh, had assured implementation of one rank one pension (OROP), but unfortunately, the government has now rejected OROP, so much so that it was not possible to implement the stated policy on financial and administrative grounds.
What has changed after their promise that granting of OROP has suddenly become unnecessary and unfeasible now, he wondered.
The rally was also addressed by several retired senior officers of armed forces and pledged to the fight in a disciplined manner till realization of their demands.
Giving details of the next line of action, Lt Col SS Sohi said ex-servicemen from across the country would organize a national level protest march on April 12 at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, which is expected to be attended by lakhs of ex-soldiers.