Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh has called upon the officers and staff of the Defence Accounts Department to maintain total transparency and probity in the spending of defence finance. Addressing the 268th Defence Accounts Department Day function at New Delhi Shri Singh said the role of the department is very important since it is handling a budget of 3,44,000 crores which is almost 14% of the Union Budget. Giving emphasis on the full utilisation of the Defence Budget in a time-bound manner, he appealed to department officials to look into this aspect. On this occasion as part of the ‘Digital India’ initiative of the Government, the Minister formally launched ePPO for Ex-Servicemen and a Handbook on delegation of powers to Integrated Financial Advisors (IFA). He also commended the role of the department for its sincere efforts in helping the Government to implement the long overdue One Rank – One Pension (OROP) scheme for the Ex-Servicemen.
Speaking on the occasion Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee and Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha congratulated the officers and staff of the DAD for observing the Foundation Day. Dwelling upon the role of the Department he highlighted the importance of Internal Audit in the prompt and efficient use of Defence Budget. On this occasion the Minister presented the ‘Raksha Mantri Awards for Excellence’ to selected DAD employees for their outstanding contribution during the year 2014-15. Among others, Defence Secretary Shri G Mohan Kumar and Financial Advisor (Defence Services) Shri Sudhanshu Mohanty also addressed the gathering.