From: BS Keron keronbs@yahoo.com
Subject:
Date: Sunday, 17 May, 2009, 12:28 PM
17 May 2009
Subject : OROP Campaign Review
Dear Gen Kadyan
1. The UPA sweep in the parliamentary elections necessitates a fresh strategy and impetus to IESM OROP campaign, which you and the IESM core group and various state level reps, have sustained with utmost selflessness and sense of duty.
2. Now is the time, not for recrimination or acrimony, but to set course/ reorientate to achieving OROP, through a time bound, transparent and participative management process involving multi layered lobbying, effective projection and mobilisation of ex svcmens’ resources to achieve the objective.
3. Your mail below is encouraging to the extent that the IESM Core Gp intends to review the way fwd, hence some suggestions listed below for consideration :-
Policy review so that present system of Core Group members being weighed down by mundane tasks is avoided and system of subcommittees formed seeking volunteers from within IESM to take on various defined & structured routine tasks.
Identify ex svcmen entrepreneurs/ contacts with expertise, knowledge & wherewithal in various fields eg IT, Media & Financial management, CAs etc who can provide platform for seminars, web hosting etc to offset running costs of essential IESM functions/ activities.
Sub Committee under (eg Gen Surjeet Singh) erstwhile Chairman Army HQ Pay Commission Cell/ any other veteran who has detailed first hand knowledge/ experience of intricacies & nuances of how to put across our case for OROP to the recently formed govt committee (to formulate series of papers & presentations eg proposed OROP model-economic sustainability-foreign models- comparison bureaucrats/ PMF/ police etc-FAQs etc).
Coopting various state govt ex servicemen orgs (eg Col Malliappan heading Tamil Nadu ex svcmen cell of DMK) to synergise the OROP campaign through their respective state govts which have varying influence as political power centres with the govt at the Centre.
Identify retd offrs to serve as (honorary) reps of IESM for each state and such a formulated list be put on the website
Interaction with Defence & Security related think tanks/ orgs (IDSA, CPR, USI, Indian Defence Review etc) to mobilise their publications as platforms to keep the issue alive and reach out to the masses.
Close interaction with MOD, MoF & Defence Accounts Dept/ FADS
Media & PR subcommittee to give the OROP to mobilise & sustain public and govt awareness. We have a host of retd Def Services/ MOD PROs (eg Col Anil Bhat at Delhi) who can be requested to flesh out this subcommittee.
Create a pool of eminent retd defence officer & PBOR experts to churn out quality aspects of OROP campaign through a series of articles/ editorials in targeted print media & to participate in TV talk shows (Karan Thapar/ Aap ki Adalat/ other prime time talk shows).
Close interaction with Service HQ to synch and synergise the campaign.
Visualise time bound program to take on various OROP campaign activities.
Identification of reasons why plethora of ex svcmens’ orgs do exist but are either non functional or non responsive to ex svcmens’ problems and insulating IESM from falling into such a state.
Formulation of code of conduct for IESM members and IESM management.
4. While I am sure that most of the suggestions above are either already structured and implemented or on the IESM "to do" list, some may be useful to acheive IESM objective.
Best wishes
BS Keron
Maj Gen Retd
