Over 31.6 lakh defence pensioners onboarded on SPARSH; grievance redressal time drops to 17 days
Under the nationwide Digital Life Certificate 4.0 campaign conducted from November 1 to 30, 2025, the Defence Accounts Department mobilised 202 offices, 4.63 lakh common service centres and 15 partner banks, supported by 27 nodal officers.
New Delhi, December 16: More than 31.69 lakh defence pensioners across India and Nepal have been onboarded onto SPARSH, the country’s largest end-to-end digital pension platform, marking a major milestone in pension administration under the Digital India initiative.
The System for Pension Administration – Raksha, administered by the Defence Accounts Department through PCDA (Pensions), Prayagraj, has replaced a fragmented legacy framework that was earlier managed by over 45,000 agencies, with a unified, transparent and accountable digital system.
According to the government, SPARSH has resolved 94.3% of legacy discrepant cases migrated from earlier systems. Of the 6.43 lakh discrepant cases identified, 6.07 lakh have been normalised without impacting pensioners’ entitlements.
The platform has also significantly improved grievance redressal outcomes. Average grievance resolution time has reduced from 56 days in April 2025 to 17 days by November 2025. Data from the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances shows that the Defence Accounts Department recorded a 73% satisfaction score, ranking fifth among all ministries and departments.
To ensure inclusion of elderly and non-tech-savvy pensioners, the department conducted 284 SPARSH outreach programmes and 194 Raksha Pension Samadhan Ayojans across the country. More than 8,000 grievances were resolved on the spot during these programmes in the current financial year.
Under the nationwide Digital Life Certificate 4.0 campaign conducted from November 1 to 30, 2025, the Defence Accounts Department mobilised 202 offices, 4.63 lakh common service centres and 15 partner banks, supported by 27 nodal officers. As of November 30, over 20.94 lakh digital life certificates were generated for defence pensioners, the highest among all departments.
In terms of financial disbursements, ₹1.57 lakh crore was released in real time through SPARSH during FY 2024–25. The implementation of OROP-III in July 2024 enabled the disbursement of ₹1,224.76 crore to 20.17 lakh beneficiaries within 15 days.
Officials said SPARSH is now the largest unified pension system in the country and the only fully integrated digital pension solution for defence personnel, reflecting the government’s focus on timely delivery, transparency and dignity for veterans and their families.
