New Delhi, Apr 1 (PTI) Defence personnel's pensions worth more than Rs 11,600 crore were given through automated pension disbursal system SPARSH in 2021-22, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on Friday.

In 2020-21, just about Rs 57 crore were disbursed through SPARSH, the MoD's statement noted.

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SPARSH -- which stands for System for Pensions Administration Raksha -- has on-boarded nearly five lakh defence pensioners till date, it mentioned.

SPARSH is designed keeping defence pensioners at the centre, who are given a completely transparent view of their pension account through an online portal.

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The armed forces and other organisations were on-boarded to SPARSH in phases, beginning with the Indian Army from August 2021, the MoD mentioned.

"SPARSH has grown exponentially since its inception, with more than Rs 11,600 crore disbursed in the 2021-22, from just about Rs 57 crore in 2020-21," it noted.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)