Kerala Guv praises outreach programme for defence pensioners

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 16 (PTI) Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on Thursday praised the 'Sparsh Outreach Programme', organised here by the Controller of Defence Accounts (CDA), wherein around Rs 40 lakh of pension arrears were disbursed to five pensioners.

The governor, after inaugurating the event, appreciated the efforts initiated by CDA, Chennai to conduct the outreach programme which is a single platform to solve all the problems related to defence pension, a Defence statement said.

Arlekar also said that he is eternally grateful to the armed forces personnel, whether serving or retired from the service, for keeping themselves agile and awake in securing the boundaries of the nation, according to the statement.

Raj Kumar Arora, IDAS, Controller General of Defence Accounts, New Delhi, while addressing the pensioners, is quoted as having said that Sparsh was part of the Digital India Initiative of the Indian government and ensures direct bank transfer seamlessly.

He also mentioned that the arrears of more than Rs 1,200 crore following the third revision One Rank One Pension (OROP) were disbursed to more than 20 lakh defence pensioners and family pensioners within a span of just 15 days.

The Sparsh outreach programmes are conducted across India to resolve the maximum number of grievances and provide pension related services at the doorsteps of pensioners, the statement said.

More than 1,000 ex-servicemen, retired defence civilians and their families from Thiruvananthapuram and nearby districts attended the programme, it said.

Various stalls for Sparsh, Defence record offices and banks were installed at the venue to solve the problems of pensioners.

"The programme was very useful to the pensioners as most of their pension related issues got resolved with the help of agencies present there," the statement said. PTI HMP HMP KH