Rajnath Singh Launches Digital Finance Initiatives at Defence Accounts Department’s 279th Annual Day in New Delhi

Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh on October 1, 2026, launched a set of digital and financial management initiatives for the Defence Accounts Department (DAD) at the department’s 279th Annual Day celebrations held at DRDO Bhawan in New Delhi.

The event came as the DAD marked nearly three centuries of service in defence financial administration. In his remarks, Singh praised the department’s role in defence financial audit and management and described it as the backbone of the country’s defence preparedness.

He called for deeper integration of the financial systems used by the Army, Navy and Air Force, and urged the department to move towards maximum digitisation, automation and transparency. Stressing the need for faster and more reliable financial decision-making, he said Management Information System data should be updated in real time.

The Raksha Mantri also pressed for a shift from “Annual Review of Balances” to “Any Time Review of Balances”, saying continuous monitoring of the defence budget would require real-time financial information.

Among the key projects highlighted was SAKSHAM, the DAD’s initiative to digitise and integrate the defence accounting and payment ecosystem. Hosted on a secure dedicated data centre and running on the DAD WAN network, the system uses secure role-based access, enhanced validations and a scalable technology stack. Singh said it advances the department’s goal of “One Nation, One Function, One Application”.

He also noted SAKSHAM’s integration with the Indian Army Financial Information System, which covers budget, approval and bill data. The integration is intended to strengthen digital processing across the defence payments ecosystem by allowing real-time exchange of information on bill status and budget balances, while supporting completely paperless bill processing.

The Raksha Mantri said the achievement of near 100 per cent expenditure during the financial year 2025–26 reflected the combined effort of the DAD and the three Services. He also referred to the success of SPARSH data cleaning and suggested that grievance redressal should be automated through a Conversational AI ecosystem spanning chat, SMS, WhatsApp, email and phone calls. Singh further stressed the need for quality audit, digital data cleaning and prompt settlement of grievances and court cases.

“Our approach must be firm, fair, sensitive and responsible, especially when dealing with the legitimate dues and service rights of those who have devoted their lives to defending the nation,” the Raksha Mantri said.

He also urged early implementation of SAMPURNA, described as a fully automated end-to-end revenue procurement system designed to use data analytics, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning as a decision-support mechanism.

During the ceremony, Singh unveiled three major initiatives aimed at improving the integration of the Defence Forces’ financial information systems, strengthening accounting and tracking of defence expenditure, and operationalising the Treasury Single Account system in the Ministry of Defence.

One of those initiatives was the integration of SAKSHAM with the Indian Army Financial Information System (IAFIS), enabling the digital transmission of budget, sanction and bill information between the two systems. The move is designed to improve the digitisation of defence payments by enabling real-time sharing of bill status and budget balances and by supporting paperless processing.

Singh also inaugurated the Treasury Single Account system in the Ministry of Defence for just-in-time release of funds to autonomous bodies under the Government of India. Operationalised through the Payment Routing and Integrated System Management platform and fully integrated with RBI eKUBER, the TSA system is intended to improve grant management and provide better visibility of accounting and expenditure.

He further launched the revamped National Compilation System for Defence, which serves as the single source for accounting and compilation of defence expenditure in India. Since the Ministry of Defence works under a financial delegation framework that requires budget allocation and expenditure tracking across different Controllers of the Defence Accounts Department, the revamped NCS has been redesigned on a new technical architecture to improve budget reporting and expenditure monitoring.

The system is expected to enable more granular reporting for the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Defence, Service Headquarters and Field Controllers, supporting policy planning and budget management.

The Raksha Mantri Awards for Excellence 2026 were also presented at the event to recognise teams and individuals for implementing key reforms and projects. The awards highlighted innovation, professionalism and efficiency in defence financial management, while also acknowledging contributions towards institutional capacity and transparency.

They also recognised the work of DAD officials across the country in digitising the Annual Review of Balances and implementing initiatives such as SAKSHAM and SAMAR-SETU. SAMAR-SETU is a centralised application for managing the pay and allowances of Agniveers of the Indian Army. Operating from the Central Agniveer Pay and Accounts Office, it manages the pay accounts of more than 2.3 lakh Agniveers through system-driven automated processes.

Three publications were released during DAD Day 2026: the Comprehensive Statistical Handbook on Defence Expenditure 2026, Raksha Lekha Bharati and the Market Intelligence Report 2025-2026. A film on the success of the System for Pension Administration (Raksha), or SPARSH, was also screened.

Controller General of Defence Accounts Alka Nangia Arora, speaking at the event, outlined the department’s major initiatives during the year, including progress in centralising and digitising its core functions of internal audit, payment and accounting, financial advice and management of defence pensions.

The celebrations were attended by Chief of Defence Staff General NS Raja Subramani, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Krishna Swaminathan, Chief of Army Staff General Dhiraj Seth, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, Secretary (Defence Finance) Vishvajit Sahay and Vice Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, along with senior officials of the Ministry of Defence.

The 279th Annual Day programme reflected the Defence Accounts Department’s continuing shift towards integrated financial systems, automated processes and real-time financial management, with the newly launched initiatives aimed at strengthening transparency, efficiency and informed decision-making in defence financial administration.