Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched a set of digital initiatives to modernise financial management in the armed forces on the Defence Accounts Department's 279th Annual Day in New Delhi on October 1.

The centrepiece is the integration of the Indian Army Financial Information System (IAFIS) with DAD's SAKSHAM platform. It enables digital flow of budget, sanction and bill information, real-time sharing of bill status and balances, and paperless bill processing.

Singh also launched the revamped National Compilation System for defence expenditure and the Treasury Single Account (TSA) system, run through the PRISM platform and linked to the RBI's eKUBER for just-in-time fund release to autonomous bodies.

The minister urged DAD to move from an "Annual Review of Balance Budget" to an "Any Time Review of Balance Budget", and suggested conversational AI for grievance redressal across chat, SMS, WhatsApp and email. He noted near 100 per cent expenditure booking in 2025-26.

Tracing its origins to the Military Pay Master of 1747, DAD handles audit, accounting and pensions for the defence establishment. The shift matters because faster, cleaner money trails free up resources for the forces themselves.