Agitating ex-servicemen on Monday continued with their relay hunger strike over the 'One Rank One Pension' issue at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi as they prepared for a mega rally this weekend to press for removal of "anomalies" in the OROP announced by the government.
"I am there to support the cause of ex-servicemen because I am an ex-servicemen's daughter," Singh's daughter Mrinalini was quoted as saying.
The One Rank, One Pension stir reached Goa on Wednesday with ex-army veterans beginning an indefinite relay strike.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday described as "well-balanced" the Vote-on-Account presented by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, saying it portrays a "realistic picture" of the economic situation of the country.
'Today, let us reaffirm our commitment to strive to realise Gandhiji's dreams. His watchwords, truth and nonviolence, will continue to remain relevant for the whole world. He also taught us that rights and duties are but the two sides of the coin - indeed, the true source of rights is duty. Today we recall his lessons in compassion too - compassion not only for our human neighbours but also for our other neighbours, namely, flora and fauna, rivers and mountains.'
The Rafale deal issue and the Kashmir situation also came up during the Congress president's 30-minute-long interaction.
The total salary and pension bill of the central government, which will also include Railway employees, will go up from estimated Rs 4.33 lakh crore to Rs 5.35 lakh crore during 2016-17
It added that following this, the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare of Ministry of Defence vide communication dated November 7, 2015, conveyed the policy of OROP for the defence force personnel.
Hawaldar (retd) Ashok Chauhan, on a fast-unto-death since August 18 over the non-implementation of the One Rank, One Pension scheme, was taken to the army hospital on Tuesday after his health deteriorated, in what is the second such case in as many days.
Modi said that unlike previous governments who had duped the ex-servicemen, his government had fulfilled its promise of One-Rank, One-Pension.
Neither the BJP, nor the Congress before it, made any manifesto commitments on defence spending, even though allocations have plummeted from 4 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the late 1980s to less than 2 per cent today, points out Ajai Shukla.
Implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations, One Rank, One Pension are the other triggers going ahead, analysts say
Wordsmiths and artists of different parties are working overtime to deliver punches and counter punches in their bid to reach out to voters through different platforms ranging from Facebook to YouTube.
Ex-servicemen on Saturday protested against the delay in issue of official notification by the government to 'one rank one pension' scheme as announced by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in September.
Jaitley had on Monday had virtually ruled out annual revision of pension as demanded by agitating ex-servicemen under OROP.
Veterans bemoan the 'lack of intention' shown by the Modi sarkar, who seem to have reneged on their poll promise.
The development came after a nearly two-hour long meeting was held between representatives of ex-servicemen and Army chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag.
Close to 300 of these veterans assembled at the protest site, very close to where a similar agitation is being held by the ex-servicemen of the armed forces for the prompt implementation of the OROP for them.
More incentives will be given to agriculture sector for increasing agriculture production.
The government is considering appointing a committee under a judge to go into the issue of equalisation of pension, Major General Satbir Singh (retd), who has been leading the 'One Rank One Pension' protest in Jantar Mantar for the last 80 days, said after a meeting with Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.
Ex-servicemen say the government's award ignores five out of seven demands they had made and only partially meets the other two.
Jaitley said India needed to grow by additional 1-1.5%.
Modi said not a single leader of the opposition grouping INDIA has uttered a word against the "disrespect" for women.
Rahul was leading a candle light march organised by the Delhi Congress unit from Jantar Mantar to India Gate when police personnel restrained him
The 70-year-old ex-serviceman Ram Kishan Grewal from Haryana's Bhiwani district had allegedly consumed poison.
It should be noted that the CPC allocation is provisional.
When farmers are deprived of fair MSP and jawans of the OROP, it is not the right time to hike salaries/pension for MPs, said the Congress.
'The impact of this delay and the breach of trust will be felt in the 1.5 million active serving personnel of the Armed forces, as they will also become part of the ex-servicemen for eventually,' ex-servicemen tell the finance minister.
Nobody bothered to articulate the upsides; instead, the four-year tour of duty and denial of life-long pensions got played up.
Job-seekers for government and related opportunities found that their future was at risk, points out Shreekant Sambrani.
No headway was made on Thursday in resolving sticky issues for OROP implementation during talks between agitating ex-servicemen and government even as two more veterans on indefinite hunger strike were shifted to the army hospital following doctor's advice.
A group of ex-servicemen on Monday announced that they will boycott all official functions, including ongoing 50th anniversary celebrations of the victory in 1965 war, in protest against delay over implementation of "One Rank One Pension" by the government.
Ex-servicemen on Tuesday started returning their medals to protest the government notification on implementation of 'one rank-one pension', which they have rejected, and hit back at Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar who termed the agitationists as misguided.
The government on Saturday asked the ex-servicemen to end their 84-day agitation as their basic demand for 'One Rank and One Pension' has been accepted and asserted it was open to talks after the veterans voiced their dissatisfaction over key provisions.
Ex-servicemen seeking changes in government's OROP scheme on Monday shifted their protest back to Jantar Mantar in New Delhi from outside Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
'Indian families' needs and expectations have gone through a revolution across economic demographics.' 'As this latest Modi-Sitharaman Budget demonstrated, politicians have understood this change. They are responding to it,' points out Shekhar Gupta.
Officers responsible for preparing budgets say their detailed costing projections are mostly ignored. The defence ministry simply takes the previous year's budgetary allocations for each service and adds a small percentage to those.
Parrikar's statement did not go down well with the protesters who said they are "disheartened".
The Opposition members charged the Governor with "unconstitutional" conduct after the Gauhati high court put on hold all his decision including move to advance the winter session of the assembly by a month.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday said the behaviour of war veterans protesting the notification on OROP scheme is "unlike that of a soldier".
He cautioned people against forces inside and outside India which are working against the country by targeting it and its constitutional values.
