NEW DELHI: In a bid to digitise service records of over 12 lakh Army soldiers, Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday launched new automation software ARPAN 3.0. The software would also provide easy access to pay, leave, transfer and posting details of the personnel and could be accessed both by the units as well as individuals.
The rollout of ARPAN 3.0 – its full name is Army Record Office Process Automation 3.0 – coincides with the National Digital India Week launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday.
As per the plan, the Indian Army targets digitisation of its 45 Record Offices (ROs) across the country in a year’s time. It has already been test-bedded at seven ROs and would now be implemented in five more.
The software would allow soldiers, including junior commissioned officers, to access their service records at the unit level itself through Army’s intranet facility, using an assigned login ID and password. The service records of all Army officers have already been digitised.
“I hope in a year’s time, we will be perfectly on the website,” Parrikar said, at the launch attended by Army Chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag and senior Defence Ministry and Army officials.
“The launch of ARPAN 3.0 will not only digitise the 45 ROs, but will also seamlessly integrate it with the Human Resources Management (HRM 2.0) system,” Gen Suhag said.
The new software is user-friendly and could be accessed both by the units as well as individual, he said.
ARPAN 3.0 was developed jointly by the Army Software Development Centre and Tech Mahindra, using state-of-the-art web-based technology.