New Delhi: On the “momentous” occasion of five years of One Rank One Pension (OROP), Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday saluted soldiers for courageously protecting the nation.

“Today, five years ago, India took a historic step towards ensuring the well-being of our great soldiers, who courageously protect our nation. #5YearsOfOROP is a momentous occasion. India waited for OROP for decades,” Prime Minister Modi tweeted.

Today, five years ago, India took a historic step towards ensuring the well-being of our great soldiers, who courageously protect our nation. #5YearsOfOROP is a momentous occasion. India waited for OROP for decades.

I salute our veterans for their remarkable service! pic.twitter.com/VmZUsJCAJP

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 7, 2020

“I salute our veterans for their remarkable service!” he added.

The Centre has disbursed over Rs 42,700 crore to 20.6 lakh retired Defence personnel under the OROP scheme since its inception, the Defence Ministry had said on Friday.

“The yearly recurring expenditure on account of OROP is about Rs 7,123 crore and for about six years, starting from July 1, 2014, the total recurring expenditure worked out to approximately Rs 42,740 crore,” the Ministry said.

The OROP scheme has been effective since 1 July, 2014. Under the scheme, the armed forces personnel retiring in the same rank with the same length of service gets the uniform pension, regardless of their date of retirement.