Hyderabad, October 31: In a development that should cheer about one million Army personnel, their pay system is going online. It has become a reality with the software developed by the Controller of Defence Accounts (CDA) under project Dolphin.
The software not only helps credit the salaries of the staff directly into their bank accounts but also enables the personnel to view online the details about their promotions and the benefits they are entitled to.
“The software is being implemented at two Pay Accounts Offices (PAOs) in Secunderabad from October 1 and will benefit Personnel Below Officers Rank (PBOR),” the Controller of Defence Accounts, Secunderabad DBK Reddy told Express.
“To begin with the software has been introduced in two PAOs in Secunderabad catering to nearly 1.3 lakh PBOR and will be extended to the remaining 42 PAOs across the country in the next four to five months,” said additional CDA Y Raja Reddy.
Earlier, the Controller of Defence Accounts (CDA) used to send intimation to Pay Accounts Offices once in every three months based on which PBOR were allowed to draw advances from their salaries for the subsequent three months. But now every month salaries will be credited into the accounts of PBOR through the National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT). They can view their account statement online. Dolphin enables PBOR like sepoys and havildars to check online the allowances they are entitled to soon after their promotions are notified.
The system is unique because it has been developed in-house, for the first time in India, by a team of 10 members led by Raja Reddy at the Information Technology Software Development Centre (ITSDC) attached to the CDA in a period of one year.
“Initially, we wanted to outsource the project to private parties who quoted `1.5 crore. But even three years after taking up the project they couldn’t deliver it,” explained Raja Reddy.
“Going a step forward, we want to make most tasks paper-less by converting them into electronic form. For example, we want to notify all promotion orders online. We’ve already developed a software to accept documents with digital signatures. It will be a reality in another one year,” said DBK Reddy.
The software will formally be launched by Controller General of Defence Accounts Nand Kishore on November 1 to coincide with the Foundation Day of the CDA. He will also inaugurate the new building of the ITSDC on the occasion.
–Agencies