Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched several digital initiatives of the Defence Accounts Department (DAD) during its 276th annual day celebrations at Delhi Cantonment(Cantt), Delhi.
i.The newly launched digital initiatives include,
- An integrated defence finance dashboard for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) ‘SARANSH’ (Summary of Accounts, Budget and Expenditure for Raksha Mantralaya)
- BISWAS (Bill Information and Work Analysis System),
- e-Raksha Awaas.
ii.The Defence Minister also distributed the Raksha Mantri Awards for Excellence for the year 2023 during the event.
Note: DAD, the guardian of defence finance, recognises its efforts in enhancing India’s defence capabilities through transparency and efficiency.
Key People:
General Anil Chauhan, Chief of Defence Staff; Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, Chief of Air Staff; Admiral R Hari Kumar, Chief of Naval Staff; Smt Rasika Chaube, Financial Advisor (Defence Services); SG Dastidar, Controller General of Defence Accounts and other senior officials of MoD were present during the event.
Digital Initiatives:
SARANSH:
i.It aims to provide a more precise and objective representation of defence financial data across India on payment, accounting, budgeting etc by leveraging advanced data analytics techniques on the different databases of various Information Technology (IT) systems running in the DAD.
ii.This analytics tool integrates, compiles, sanitises & standardises financial data from multiple applications/data sources and provides a real-time comprehensive platform with the features of a dashboard: visualize trends, display metrics, graphs on key performance indicators, reports etc.
iv.‘SARANSH’ will serve as a comprehensive Dashboard for the higher management with at-a-glance visibility of all the defence expenditures for centralized monitoring and driving towards data-driven decisions for all defence organizations.
BISWAS:
i.It will serve as a Dashboard for the various Principal Controller of Defence Accounts/Controller of Defence Accounts (PCsDA/CsDA) and display different infographics for the purpose of monitoring and analysing the whole process flow of bill management, including reports on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
ii.It provides real-time detailed analysis of bill processing, with interactive visualisations of granular data flowing through the various office automation systems for a Controller office.
e-Raksha Awaas:
i.It is a centralised and comprehensive software package developed to streamline and optimize the process of generating timely rent and allied charges for rentable buildings within the Defence Services and facilitating the prompt remission of rent and allied charges to Government Accounts.
ii.This package serves as a unified online platform for all stakeholders involved in the generation, recovery and remission of rent and allied charges.
Raksha Mantri Awards for Excellence 2023:
On the occasion, the defence minister gave away the Raksha Mantri Awards for Excellence 2023 to 5 teams for exhibiting exemplary initiatives in implementing key department projects:
- For adoption of new paradigms of training methodology;
- Implementation of Computer Based Testing (CBT) systems in the conduct of SAS Examinations in the DAD;
- Implementation of SARANSH Raksha Mantralaya Dashboard;
- Implementation of Dolphin 2.0, a nationwide system for management of pay and allowances for JCOs/Other Ranks of the Indian Army; and
- For the Development of KPIs for field offices of the Department.
Key Points:
i.Raksha Mantri Awards for Excellence is an award scheme for the DAD. The awards will be in the form of cash awards presented annually by the Defence Minister on each DAD day on 1 October.
ii.The cash award would be accompanied by a trophy duly embossed with the name of the Awardee(s) a certificate mentioning the outstanding work done by the individual or group of individuals and a badge for each individual.
Defence Accounts Department (DAD):
i.On 1 October 1951 Military Accounts Department was re-designated as the Defence Accounts Department (DAD).
- Controllers of Military Accounts re-designated as Controllers of Defence Accounts.
ii.DAD functions under the administrative control of the MoD and is headed by the Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA)
- SG Dastidar is the current CGDA of DAD.
iii.DAD aims to provide responsive and professional Financial, Audit and Accounting services.
Recent related News:
On 13 July 2023, the MoD and the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote the use of millet and healthy eating practices among the Armed Forces and ensure the availability of safe & nutritious food in New Delhi, Delhi.
About Ministry of Defence (MoD):
Union Minister– Raj Nath Singh (Constituency- Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh)
Minister of State– Ajay Bhatt (Constituency- Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar, Uttarakhand)
