SPARSH System Implemented by Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence has implemented System for Pension Administration Raksha (SPARSH). SPARSH is an integrated system for automation of sanction and disbursement of defence pension.

This web-based system processes pension claims and credits pension directly into the bank accounts of defence pensioners. Under this system, defence pensioners are independent of relying on any external intermediary.

A Pensioner Portal is available for pensioners to view their pension-related information. All the Pensioners, by this portal, can access services and register complaints about redressal of grievances, if any, relating to their pension matters.

SPARSH envisages the establishment of Service Centres to provide last-mile connectivity to pensioners.

This kind of facility is for those pensioners who may be unable to directly access the SPARSH portal for any reason. 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.

It should be known that several offices of the Defence Accounts Department, which are already functioning as Service Centres for pensioners.