Defence Pensioners Can Submit Digital Life Certificates at SPARSH Centres

India’s Defence Accounts Department began a month-long campaign on 1 November to help defence pensioners submit digital life certificates through more than two hundred SPARSH centres.

By Career Ahead AI · India — AI-assisted, fact-verified against cited sources. Readers should verify key facts.

The campaign promotes Aadhaar-based face authentication

The initiative promotes Aadhaar-based face authentication as a way for defence pensioners to submit digital life certificates. It also provides for extra assistance to two groups: senior citizens more than 80 years of age and persons with disabilities. The campaign description names these groups for special assistance, while identifying face authentication as the method it promotes. It does not specify what form the assistance takes, so the available details are limited to who is eligible for it and the authentication approach being encouraged.^¹

Digital life certificate services began in 2014, according to Dhrubajyoti Sengupta, Joint Secretary of DoPPW. His account places the current authentication approach within a service that has been operating for years. The 2014 date marks the introduction of the services; it is separate from the later introduction of face authentication technology. The campaign now promotes that technology for defence pensioners submitting certificates through SPARSH centres.^¹²

His remarks connect the service’s history with the authentication method promoted in the current campaign, but do not set out other steps a pensioner must take or identify additional eligibility rules.¹

Face authentication technology was introduced in 2021, Sengupta said, and he described the service as having evolved since its introduction. He said the technology made the process more accessible and convenient. His remarks connect the service’s history with the authentication method promoted in the current campaign, but do not set out other steps a pensioner must take or identify additional eligibility rules.^¹

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Use of face authentication rose during the previous campaign

Certificates generated through face authentication rose from approximately 50 lakh to around 1.25 crore during the previous campaign, Sengupta informed participants. The figures refer specifically to certificates generated using face authentication. They show an increase between the previous campaign’s reported total and the earlier level cited, rather than a count of all digital life certificates. The current campaign also promotes face authentication, though the reported figures describe the previous campaign.^¹

Nivedita Shukla Verma, Secretary of DoPPW, said pensioners remain at the centre of the department’s initiatives. She said the campaign’s success depends on reaching every pensioner, including people living in remote areas. Her remarks frame access as a central concern for the campaign and identify remote residents among the pensioners it aims to reach. They do not give a separate figure for remote pensioners or specify what assistance is available in each area.^¹

Verma made the remarks at a mega camp organised by DoPPW in collaboration with Punjab National Bank at its Parliament Street Branch in New Delhi. The camp was held under the nationwide digital life certificate campaign. The named venue and collaboration identify the setting for her comments; the event was a mega camp, while the broader initiative was described as nationwide. The campaign also uses more than two hundred SPARSH centres to help defence pensioners submit certificates.^¹

The campaign runs through the end of November

The campaign started on 1 November and runs until the end of the month. That schedule makes the effort a month-long drive, rather than an ongoing service announcement with no stated end point. Defence pensioners can use the campaign period to seek help submitting digital life certificates through the SPARSH centres identified by the Defence Accounts Department. The information gives the start date and the closing period, but does not provide a separate appointment process or a centre-by-centre schedule.^¹²

The campaign combines the SPARSH-centre submission assistance with promotion of Aadhaar-based face authentication and special assistance for pensioners over 80 and persons with disabilities. These are the practical details given about the initiative: its duration, the number of centres, the authentication method and the groups singled out for extra help. No fee, required documents, appointment rules or separate eligibility conditions appear in the campaign details provided.^¹

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Verma made the remarks at a mega camp organised by DoPPW in collaboration with Punjab National Bank at its Parliament Street Branch in New Delhi.

Face Authentication Skills Gain Value

The jump in face-authentication certificates from 50 lakh to 1.25 crore in one campaign shows how quickly government services adopt this technology. If you work in fintech, identity verification, or public service delivery, building hands-on experience with Aadhaar-based face authentication positions you for roles supporting similar rollouts. Employers in these fields now need people who can manage large-scale digital onboarding and troubleshoot authentication flows for older users and those with disabilities.^¹²

For job seekers targeting government or banking partnerships, note that the campaign runs through November and uses more than 200 SPARSH centres. This signals that state agencies are investing in physical plus digital service points. When negotiating pay or roles, ask about projects involving biometric verification or citizen-facing digital services, as these areas are expanding. Also consider that special assistance for those over 80 and persons with disabilities means accessibility expertise is a differentiator.^¹²