SPARSH Becomes India’s First Digital Pension System, Covers 31.69 Lakh Defence Pensioners

Ensuring the principle of “Right Pension to the Right Pensioner at the Right Time,” the System for Pension Administration – Raksha (SPARSH), a flagship Digital India initiative, has become India’s first complete end-to-end digital pension platform. Managed by the Defence Accounts Department through PCDA (Pensions), Prayagraj, SPARSH had enrolled 31.69 lakh defence pensioners across India and Nepal by November 2025. The platform has replaced an earlier fragmented arrangement handled by more than 45,000 agencies, establishing a single, transparent and accountable digital system for defence pension administration nationwide.

SPARSH has recorded significant milestones since its implementation. Of the 6.43 lakh legacy discrepant cases transferred from older systems, 6.07 lakh, or 94.3 percent, have been resolved without impacting pensioners’ benefits. To support elderly and non-tech-savvy pensioners, 284 SPARSH Outreach Programmes and 194 Raksha Pension Samadhan Ayojans were organised nationwide, resolving over 8,000 grievances on the spot during the current financial year. Pensioners can now access complete details online, while average grievance resolution time reduced from 56 days in April 2025 to 17 days in November 2025, with a 73 percent satisfaction score.

Under the nationwide Digital Life Certificate 4.0 campaign held 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. By November 30, 2025, 20.94 lakh DLCs were generated for defence pensioners, the highest among all departments. During FY 2024–25, Rs 1,57,681 crore in defence pensions was disbursed in real time through SPARSH. OROP-III enabled Rs 1,224.76 crore to reach 20.17 lakh beneficiaries within 15 days.