And with every pay commission, the disparity only increases.

As a solution, the pensioners of the armed forces have proposed the ‘One Rank One Pension’ formula, where soldiers on the same rank receive the same pension, irrespective of their retirement date.

Before the Lok Sabha elections, the UPA had appointed the Chandrashekhar Committee to look into the anomaly.

During the presentation of the Budget on July 6, the government announced that the Chandrashekhar Committee has submitted its report and recommended a ‘considerable improvement’ in the pension.

This “ambiguous” announcement has created a state of utter confusion as we never asked for ‘considerable improvement’, but wanted parity.

In recognition of the services rendered by the veterans, the concept of ‘One Rank One Pension’ should be implemented without any delay.