New Delhi, Oct 1 : Defence Minister AK Antony today said that the Armed Forces must get all their pay arrears relating to the Sixth Central Pay Commission well in time before Diwali.

Addressing the Defence Accounts Day function here today, Antony commended the officials of the Controller General of Defence Accounts for adopting computerisation and speeding-up the salary computation systems.

“One of the major challenges before you all is to render prompt, efficient and hassle free pensionary services to nearly two million ex-servicemen and other retired Defence Personnel,” Antony said.

The Defence Minister called upon the Defence Accounts officials to implement optimally the austerity measures announced recently by the Government.

“The Prime Minister has underlined the importance of service delivery mechanisms,” he added.

Pointing out that the Defence outlay has been growing around 11 per cent per annum over the last few years, Antony called upon the Defence Accounts Department to ensure fair utilisation of the revenue resources and capital spending for the Defence sector.

The Defence Minister later released a vision document for the department. He applauded the department for its valuable contributions in rationalising and simplifying the complicated processes and procedures in the Defence Procurement Manual – 2009. (ANI)