Keep defence scenario in mind: Prez tells IADS officers

President Pranab Mukherjee today asked the Defence Account cadre to keep in mind the overall defence scenario while discharging their duties as watchdogs when the modernisation of the Indian armed forces is underway.
Addressing a group of probationers of Indian Defence Accounts Service (IADS) of 2015-batch at the Rattrap Bhawan here, Mukherjee said apart from rendering advice on financial matters their role should also be to facilitate the process.
"The Indian armed forces have a huge responsibility to defend the nation. To achieve this objective, our armed forces should modernise," Mukherjee said.
In this scenario of ever-increasing defence outlay, the responsibilities of the cadre are bound to increase. "Their focus should not be only on the financial aspects but also on the overall defence scenario," the President said.

He said they need to be careful in discharging their duties of scrutinising financial expenditure as watchdogs.
Mukherjee congratulated the officers for their success in civil services exams, one of the toughest in the country.
Established 267 years ago, the Defence Account department was known as the military accounts department and it remained under the administrative control of the finance ministry till 1983. It came under the control of the defence ministry on the introduction of the integrated financial advice scheme.