DAD DAY

The DAD Day was celebrated wi

th great fervour in the HQrs office as well as all offices across India on 1st October, 2008.

At the office of the CGDA the Hon’ble Raksha Mantri Shri A K Antony was the Chief Guest of honour at a function held at Training Division of the CGDA., Brar Square, Delhi Cantt. The other dignitaries who graced the occasion were Shri M M Pallam Raju , Raksha Rajya Mantri, Shri Vinod Rai, C&AG, Admiral Sureesh Mehta, Chairman Chief of Staff Committee and Chief of Naval staff, and General Deepak Kapoor, Chief of Army Staff. A panel exhibition was also organized in the lounge of the Training Division in which all the Jt. CGDAs apprised the Honorable RRM about their areas of work. These guests of honour were welcomed by mementoes of the DAD. Speaking on the occasion Smt Bulbul Ghosh, IDAS, CGDA thanked the Honorable Raksha Mantri for his encouragement and support and assured the dignitaries present that the Department would never dither in its quest for rendering quality services. In light of the enhanced role of the Department in areas of budget management and financial advice, she also requested the Raksha Mantriji to consider re-christening the Department as Defence Finance Department. She outlined the key areas of focus of the department namely IFAs, conduct of performance studies, pensions and computerization. She spoke about the comprehensive study of functioning of Army Ordnance Corps and inventory control carried out by CGDA office and its reference to AHQ for consideration and implementation in this regard.

Smt H K Pannu, IDAS, the then FA (DS) felt honoured and privileged to have the entire galaxy of highest level decision makers on the occasion. She was happy to note that the department has developed a new transformation strategy to keep abreast of the changes in the external and internal environment and discharge the new and more complex role arising from the changes. She, however, warned that the efficient discharge of the new role by the department would depend on re-orientation of its human resources and hailed the department for initiating “Motivation Scheme” to recognize the exemplary performances of its officials.

The RRM in his address felt happy to note the department’s efforts in automating its work processes in the form of Mission Excel IT. He said he was looking forward to the contributions of DAD officials in the deliberations of the Defence Information Technology Consultative Committee as per the decisions of the Controllers’ Conference 2008. He mentioned that benchmarking the department’s services to international standard was no longer an option but an administrative imperative.

The C&AG was happy to note that the department has pioneered its steps in the right direction to revamp its internal audit procedures in tune with the advise of Finance Ministry so as to move beyond the myopic confines of compliance/regulatory audit and to focus on effectiveness of internal controls, identification and monitoring of risk factors, and ensure value for money.

The Raksha Mantri in his address reposed his faith in the Department’s capabilities and commitment. While congratulating the Defence Accounts Department on the solemn occasion, he reminded the audience of the DAD’s growing importance with the increase in defence outlay. He said that ensuring optimal utilization of the aggregate resources for revenue and capital spending for defence, generating useful MIS reports and rendition of correct financial advice were the Department’s key operational areas. He hoped that the Defence Accounts Department in consonance with recommendations of Sixth Pay Commission would pay the revised pay, pensions and arrears correctly and promptly to all concerned He congratulated the DAD excellence award winners to have gone that extra mile in finding a creative solution to the problems of their customers. He asked the Department to be prepared to bring in systemic reforms and implement “Outcome budget” by way of establishing clear input/output linkages and Ministry of Finance’s directions on introducing Accrual Accounting as a tool for efficient asset management. The Hon’ble Raksha Mantri presented the DAD Excellence Awards on this occasion. The award presentation was followed by a scintillating cultural performance.