BJP tries to strengthen ‘pro-jawan’ image

Tragically,the services have been ignored by the Congress and failure to address the concerns of the Army,Air Force and Navy has bred undesirable discontent,” the BJP’s manifesto,which was released in New Delhi on Friday,said.

BJP’s prime ministerial candidate L K Advani,speaking on the highlights of the manifesto concerning the armed forces,said the ‘one rank-one pension’ demand of the retired personnel,for which they have been holding protests for long now,would be implemented if BJP wins in the Lok Sabha polls.

The BJP said it would meet the shortfall of officers by making the armed forces an attractive career option by introducing incentive-based competitive pay and privileges as well as pension benefits into their services in a time-bound manner.

It also promised to expedite the modalities for fulfilling the long-pending demand for a separate pay commission for the defence personnel.

Batting for the gallantry medal winners,the party said their honorarium,which was “abysmally low” ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 3,000 per month,would be increased 10-fold ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 30,000 with retrospective effect and be made tax-free.