Defence Min extends pension payment for pensioners who migrated to SPARSH

The Ministry of Defence on Wednesday said it has approved the extension of pension payment for three months for pensioners who migrated to its SPARSH platform and whose identification was due in November.

The System for Pension Administration (Raksha) or SPARSH is a web-based system for processing pension claims and crediting the pension directly into bank accounts of defence pensioners without any external intermediary.

"The Ministry of Defence has approved the extension of pension payment for three months for banks' pensioners, who migrated to SPARSH...and whose identification was due in November 2022," it said in a statement.

"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," it added.

In another statement, the ministry said the annual joint humanitarian assistance and disaster relief exercise, 'Samanvay 2022', will culminate at the Air Force Station, Agra where it had started from November 28.

Also, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) conducted the 24th National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan and preparedness meeting in Chennai on Wednesday, the ministry said.

About 100 delegates, including representatives of various ministries, central and state government departments and agencies, state pollution control board, ports and oil handling companies, participated in it.

National capabilities with the common aim to ensure collective preparedness to respond to any oil and chemical spill contingency in Indian waters were reviewed, the ministry said in another statement.