ADDRESS BY THE HON’BLE PRESIDENT OF INDIA, SMT. DROUPADI MURMU ON THE OCCASION OF CALL ON BY OFFICERS OF INDIAN ORDNANCE FACTORIES SERVICE AND INDIAN DEFENCE ACCOUNTS SERVICE

I congratulate you for clearing the Civil Services and Engineering Services examination and making it to the prestigious services. Your presence here speaks of your hard work, determination, and perseverance.

I am impressed to know about the comprehensive training imparted to you giving you an overall perspective about the goals of the country. I am confident that you are ready to give your best as public servants committed to the cause of the country and the fellow citizens. I believe that young minds like you have the energy, creativity, potential and the spark to contribute in the endeavours of making India a developed nation.

Dear officers of Indian Ordnance Factories Service,

India has embarked on the journey to achieve the goal of an inclusive and developed nation. You all know that the indigenous industries have a huge role in making a self-reliant, competitive and a robust economy. The campaigns and initiatives like ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’, ‘Make in India’, ‘Start-up India’ and ‘National Skill Development Mission’ are some of the major programmes which are intended to serve this purpose.

The government has taken several policy initiatives in the past few years and brought in reforms to encourage indigenous design, development, and manufacturing of defence equipment. The initiatives such as according priority to procurement of capital items from domestic sources under Defence Acquisition Procedure-2020, simplification of Industrial licensing process, liberalization of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy, launch of Mission DefSpace, and launching the portal SRIJAN to facilitate indigenization and establishment of two Defence Industrial Corridors, are aimed to achieve self-reliance in defence sector. You will be the movers and facilitators of indigenization in defence systems and would be expected to work towards enhancing India’s defence production capabilities.

Dear IOFS officers,

We know that India's defence exports have risen from Rs. 686 Crore in FY 2013-14 to nearly Rs. 16,000 Crore in FY 2022-23. India’s defence exports have reached more than 85 countries and India’s defence industry has shown to the world its capability of design and development. I am glad to know that today, nearly 100 firms export defence products. India now exports a wide range of defence products, including aircraft like the Dornier-228, Brahmos Missiles, PINAKA rockets & launchers, radars, simulators, etc. The global demand for India's indigenous products, such as the LCA-Tejas, Aircraft Carriers, and MRO activities, is also increasing. Dear young officers, it is imperative that while discharging your duties, you actively participate in the development programmes and facilitate the process of making India a defence manufacturing hub.

Dear officers of Indian Defence Accounts Service,

You will be playing a vital role in managing the financial aspects of the country's armed forces. You will be responsible for ensuring efficient financial management and accountability within the defence sector. I am confident that with your professional integrity and based on your robust training modules, you will be able to promote financial prudence in defence forces and contribute significantly in nation building. I urge you to adopt latest techniques and methods for auditing and accounting for bringing in greater transparency and accountability in the functioning of defence systems.

I am happy to know that Controller General of Defence Accounts has taken the initiative named SPARSH - The System for Pension Administration (Raksha) under the aegis of Ministry of Defence which aims at providing comprehensive end-to-end solution to provide pension to defence pensioners in line with the government’s vision of Digital India and Direct Benefit Transfer.

Dear young officers,

You have joined your services at a time when the country is undergoing extensive transformation at local as well as global level. With emergence of new technologies and with latest techniques and information spreading at a fast pace in every part of the world, your role in the making of a developed nation and making India globally competitive, will become even more important. Your thoughts, decisions and actions will contribute in a big way in shaping the future of defence systems and the country. I am sure that you will rise to the challenges and enrich the institutions you work for. Thereby, you will contribute to achieving our national objectives.

I wish you all a very bright future.

Thank you! 
Jai Hind! 
Jai Bharat!