14-Dec-2022: Defence Secretary Urges user friendly System for Pension Administration Raksha (SPARSH)
The Defence Secretary, Shri Giridhar Armane has urged the stakeholders of System for Pension Administration Raksha (SPARSH), an one stop solution to all pension related activities of Defence pensioners pioneered by Defence Accounts Department, to make it more user friendly. He underlined some problems in migration to SPARSH platform and technical glitches that need to be rectified. He was speaking at the Outreach Programme for Defence Pensioners on System for Pension Administration Raksha (SPARSH) organized by Defence Accounts Department at New Delhi on 14th December, 2022.
Complementing the Defence Accounts Department for executing ambitious project SPARSH with objective of streamlining the entire pension system, the Defence Secretary suggested to make the system intuitively user friendly and provide handholding services to the Defence pensioners in onboarding process. Further, he exhorted the service provider to deploy the best of their resources to the project to ensure the top quality software and seamless transfer of pension and other benefits to the ex-servicemen.
The Defence Secretary virtually inaugurated a SPARSH Service Centre in Delhi Cantonment, offering various services such as Service Requests and Grievance Redressal, Annual Life Certification, Pensioner Data verification (PDV), Manage Profile Changes including Aadhar Number, PAN Number, Postal Address, Bank Details etc. , and View and Access various documents such as the Pension Payment Order (PPO), Corrigenda PPO, Pension Slip Form.
The Department also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Six Banks viz. Indian Postal Payment Bank, Union Bank of India, Axis Bank Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., Bandhan Bank and Equittas Small Financial Bank Ltd.
The Defence Accounts Department organized the 176th Raksha Pension Samadhan Aayojan, an outreach programme for Pensioners on the SPARSH [System for Pension Administration Raksha]. The Defence Secretary, Shri Giridhar Aramane was the Chief Guest at the function. Vice Chiefs of the Armed Forces, Secretaries and Senior Officials off the Ministry of Defence were also present on the occasion.
The Defence Accounts Department is the nodal implementing agency for Project SPARSH, envisaging ‘whole of the government’ approach and integrates over 3000 pension initiating, sanctioning and disbursement agencies. The unified system brings pensions services ranging from digital process of pensioner verification to real time tracking of grievance redressal at the doorstep of the veterans.
30-Nov-2022: MoD approves extension of pension payment for three months for banks’ pensioners, migrated to SPARSH, whose identification was due in November 2022
Ministry of Defence has approved the extension of pension payment for three months for banks’ pensioners, who migrated to SPARSH, {System for Pension Administration (Raksha)} and whose identification was due in November 2022. It is reiterated that the process of Annual Identification/Life Certification is a statutory requirement for continued and timely credit of monthly pension. Thus, all defence pensioners who are yet to complete their annual identification are requested to complete their annual identification/life certification by February 2023 positively to ensure smooth processing and credit of their pension entitlement.
Annual Identification/Life Certification can be done via the following means:
- Via the Digital Jeevan Pramaan online/Jeevan Pramaan Face App for Android Users.
- Details of installation & usage may be found here: https://jeevanpramaan.gov.in/package/documentdowload/JeevanPramaan_FaceApp_3.6_Installation
- SPARSH Pensioner: Please choose Sanctioning Authority as “Defence – PCDA (P) Allahabad” & Disbursing Authority as “SPARSH – PCDA (Pensions) Allahabad”.
- Pensioners can complete Annual Identification/Life Certification by logging in https://sparsh.defencepension.gov.in/ and opting for:
- Download & upload Manual Life Certificate (MLC) duly signed by authorized signatory, or
- By selecting Aadhaar based Digital Life Certificate (DLC)
- Pensioners may also visit for completing their Annual Identification/Life Certification at nearest Service Centre established at following agencies:
- Common Service Centres (CSCs) – To find your nearest CSC click here: https://findmycsc.nic.in/
- Nearest DPDO or Defence Accounts Department Service Centre.
- Service centres established by SBI, PNB, Bank of Baroda, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank.
- To locate SPARSH service centres available at Defence Account Department or Banks click here - https://sparsh.defencepension.gov.in/?page=serviceCentreLocator.
- Legacy Pensioner (pre-2016 Retiree) who has not yet migrated to SPARSH can perform their Life Certification as was being done by them in previous years. For performing life certification through Jeevan Pramaan, they have to select respective Sanctioning Authority as “Defence – Jt.CDA(AF) Subroto Park” or Defence – PCDA (P) Allahabad” or “Defence – PCDA (Navy) Mumbai & Disbursing Authority as your respective pension disbursing bank/DPDO etc.
2-Sep-2022: Record Digital Disbursement to Defence Pensioners via SPARSH
Providing impetus to Digital India initiative, the System for Pensions Administration – RakSHa or SPARSH has disbursed more than Rs 3,090 Crore to Defense Pensioners digitally in the month of August, 2022. In another milestone, 5,62,946 Defence Pensioners migrated successfully onto the digital platform of SPARSH in August 2022. The total number of pensioners onboarded to SPARSH has crossed over the one million mark with 11 lakh beneficiaries, which is nearly 33% of the total defence pensioners in India.
This transformational change has been made possible only through incremental innovations. SPARSH is the web-based system processing the pension claims and crediting the pension directly into the bank accounts of defence pensioners without any external intermediary. It has grown exponentially with more than Rs 11,600 Crores disbursed in the Financial Year 2021-22, from just about Rs 57 crores in FY 2020-21.
The Defence Accounts Department is the nodal implementing agency of Project SPARSH, integrating over 3000 pension initiating, sanctioning and disbursement agencies. It has brought pension services right at the door step of the veterans – from digital process of pensioner verification to real time tracking of grievance redressal.
7-Dec-2022: Jeevan Pramaan Patra
The Jeevan Pramaan Patra have been disbursed by the Government using the network of Postmen and Gramin Dak Sevaks in the country.
Department is also providing doorstep banking facility to India Post Payments Bank customers, pension and other ‘Direct Benefit Transfer’ payments etc. under ‘Aadhar enabled Payment System’ along with Aadhar Enrolment facility for children up to 0-5 years age. Further, Department extended pick up facility through selected Post Offices to the retail customers who book their Registered and Speed Post articles on India Post Web Portal.
10-Nov-2022: Nation-wide Campaign for Promotion of Digital Life Certificate
The Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Government of India has launched a Nation-wide Campaign for Promotion of Digital Life Certificate for Central Government pensioners. In November 2021, Dr. Jitendra Singh, the Union Minister of State (PP) had launched the milestone Face Authentication Technique of submitting Life Certificate through any Android Mobile Phone. Now the Department is launching a special nation- wide campaign for promoting the Life certificate through Digital mode and popularizes the Face Authentication technique.
All the registered Pensioners Associations, Pension Disbursing Banks, Ministries of Government of India and CGHS Wellness Centres have been directed to promote the Digital Life Certificate/Face Authentication Technique for submitting Life Certificate by organising special camps for ‘Ease of Living’ of pensioners.
In this series, a Central Government team led by Ms. Deborah Umesh (Section Officer), Sh. Andrew Zomawia Karthak, (Section Officer) and Ms. Tanya Rajput (Consultant) from Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare shall be visiting R.K. Puram Branch headed by AGM, Sector-1, R.K. Puram in Delhi where this campaign shall be organized on 11th November, 2022 and Sector 2, Noida where this campaign shall be organised on 12th November, 2022 for Central Government pensioners in the premises of State Bank of India. All pensioners can visit the Centre for submitting their Life Certificates through Digital means.