SPARSH Pension System

•   Full Form: SPARSH — System for Pension Administration (Raksha).

• Ministry: Ministry of Defence.
• Objective: Aims to provide direct, transparent and efficient pension administration to defence pensioners.
• Who are Eligible: Mainly defence pensioners and personnel of the Armed Forces, along with certain defence civilians.
• Digital Platform: SPARSH offers a unified online platform encompassing all activities from pension sanction to its disbursal and grievance redressal.
• Direct Pension: It involves direct credit of pension into the bank account of pensioners.
• Transparency: The pension system allows pensioners to monitor their grievance redressal status along with their various pension-related information.
• Importance: Minimises the need for intermediaries and aids in the simplification of defence pension processes.
• Feature: It is a digital single-window platform for defence pension administration.

UPSC Prelims Question

Q1. Which of the following statements are correct regarding the SPARSH Pension System?

1. Full Form of SPARSH: System for Pension Administration (Raksha).

2. It is a project of the Ministry of Defence.

3. It is mainly associated with the pension management of defence pensioners.

4. It provides digital facilities related to pension and grievance redressal.

Which of the above statements are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 1, 2 and 3 only

(c) 2, 3 and 4 only

(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Answer: (d)

SPARSH (System for Pension Administration (Raksha)) is a digital pension administration system initiated by the Ministry of Defence, primarily for defence pensioners to avail various digitally delivered pension-related services and grievance redressal.