Fourth Synergy Conference between Indian Army and Defence Accounts Department (DAD) was held in New Delhi on June 28, 2022. The day-long conference was co-chaired by Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS) Lt Gen BS Raju & Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA) Shri Rajnish Kumar and attended by senior officers of Indian Army and DAD.
Deliberations on the AGNIPATH plan and the timeline for the prompt implementation of a system for pay and allowances for Agniveers were on the conference’s main agenda. Enhancing the performance of Pay and Accounts Offices (PAOs) for better service delivery to Junior Commissioned Officers/Other Ranks of the Indian Army was another item on the agenda. Senior officers from both sides were consulted as concrete action plans for the future were developed.
The CGDA agreed with the department’s goal of using technology to improve service delivery to the armed forces and to implement creative business process re-engineering to significantly alter the way that bills are processed and paid. The CGDA shared the vision of the department to leverage the power of technology to improve service delivery for the Armed Forces and deploy innovative business process re-engineering to fundamentally change the system of bill-processing and payments. He outlined the various initiatives of DAD such as DARPAN (Defence Accounts Receipt, Payment and ANalysis) and the upcoming Centralised Pay System. He also highlighted the support needed from the Army side for successful achievement of the objectives.
The many initiatives being carried out by DAD were well received by the VCOAS. He encouraged DAD and top Indian Army officers to coordinate closely in order to resolve various internal audit and payment difficulties.
In order to facilitate decision-making and improve the management of the defence budget, he discussed the necessity of identifying the costing and expenditure profile for the units and formations. He acknowledged the significant contribution made by personnel of the Indian Defence Accounts Service in assisting the Indian Army in making vital financial choices and ensuring financial discipline through the Accounting and Audit Function.