In news- The Ministry of Defence has implemented SPARSH (System for Pension Administration Raksha), an integrated system for automation of sanction and disbursement of defence pension.
Key updates-
- A pensioner portal is available for pensioners to view their pension-related information, access services and register complaints about redressal of grievances.
- SPARSH envisages the establishment of service centres to provide last-mile connectivity to pensioners who may be unable to directly access the SPARSH portal for any reason.
- This web-based system processes pension claims and credits pension directly into the bank accounts of defence pensioners without relying on any external intermediary.
- The two largest banks dealing with defence pensioners – State Bank of India (SBI) and Punjab National Bank (PNB), have been co-opted as service centres along with several offices of the Defence Accounts Department, which are already functioning as Service Centres for pensioners.
- The pensioners can approach various branches of these two banks for obtaining any service relating to their pension issues.
Source: PIB
