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For over 150 years post offices
have been the most visible and popular face of the
Indian Government throughout the country. The
concept of e-governance i.e Government at your
desktop being advocated and promoted today can trace
its genesis in services rendered by Post Offices,
when the Postman was the only person delivering mail
personally at the doorstep of the people. Now India
Post is gearing up to play more comprehensive role
by reorienting itself to meet the expectations of
future generations.
The Indian economy has scaled new height over the
last few years and is still in acceleration mode.
Emergence of several significant trends such as:
liberalisation and globalisation; demographic shift
towards urbanisation leading to increasing internal
and external migration requiring to be serviced;
monetisation of the economy especially the
agricultural sector giving rise to a corresponding
demand for financial services by all sections of the
population; and government policy to increase
funding for weaker section programs has necessitated
changes in postal framework.
Services
The four main areas of services offered by India
Post are- Communication Services- Delivering
letters, post card etc; Transportation Services-
Transporting parcels, logistics etc; Financial
Services- Facilitating saving bank, money order,
insurance etc and Value added Services- Providing
speed post service, business post, direct post etc.
Transmission and delivery of mail is India Post’s
core business so far. Post Office Savings Bank is
the oldest and largest banking institution in the
country. Transmission of funds by postal order/money
order has been the traditional way of money
transfer. Since 1884 onwards Postal Life Insurance (PLI)
has been providing life insurance coverage,
initially to employees of P&T Department and
subsequently to all Government employees. Since 1995
PLI has been extended to the rural population of the
country under a new scheme Rural Postal Life
Insurance (RPLI).
Responsibilities
Globalization and the deepening of market mechanism
in India have brought forward the concept of self
sufficiency and social service going hand in hand.
India Post is committed to fulfil the Universal
Service Obligation for providing basic postal
service throughout the country, irrespective of
terrain, at an affordable price. India Post fulfils
this obligation through the largest postal network
of 1, 55,035 Post Offices (as on 31.3.08) in the
world. Of these 1, 25, 489 Branch Post Offices cater
exclusively to rural areas.
Besides new responsibility of facilitating
applications under Right to Information is being
shouldered by the post offices.
New Initiatives
To meet the challenges posed by ever changing
communication technology especially mobile telephony
and World Wide Web, Department of Post is attempting
to transform it, striking a balance between its
objectives and outcomes of transformation. As the
transformation is a multi dimensional process
attempt is being made to change the Department at
multiple levels.
In order to provide better, faster and satisfactory
services to its customers, India Post is focusing on
few key areas. Pick up mail facility, electronically
enabled services, a dedicated freighter services,
the instant money order, and many other similar
initiatives have been undertaken to reorient the
services for providing greater satisfaction to its
customer. At the same time, for self sufficiency,
India Post is exploring the role of business
facilitator for other organisations.
Dedicated Freighter Service
In an effort to deliver the mail, parcel, speed post
and the logistic consignments by the next day in
major cities, India Post has added two more
aircrafts bringing the total number to three and the
process to acquire the fourth is in pipeline. These
three aircrafts dedicated to carry only postal cargo
touch nine cities every night making possible faster
delivery in major cities and their peripheral areas.
Project Arrow
An initiative to transform India Post into a vibrant
and responsive organisation is going on under the
‘Project Arrow’. Under the Project 50 Post Offices
were modernized in the first phase and 450 in the
second phase. Now the third phase is under process
for transforming 500 post offices. Selected post
offices are undergoing complete overhaul in their
look and feel as well as in their core functions and
operations. Systematic transformation of post
offices in a phased manner will revitalise India
Post.
The new logo of India Post reflects this change. The
straight lines have been replaced by bold strokes
retaining the ‘wings’ element. There is an element
of modernity with a conscious effort to maintain an
element of continuity. Red and Yellow colours used
in its logo convey passion, power and commitment
with a pinch of hope, joy and happiness.
IT leads Initiatives
Efforts are on to equip post offices with latest
communication means. All the post offices in the
country will be computerised during the current five
year plan. Major 25,000 post offices have already
been computerized and the remaining branch post
offices will be taken care during rest of the
period. This will make the delivery of information
and money order faster.
Recognition
Nation Wide reach of India Post has attracted many
private partners. Be it Mutual funds or money
transfer business. Since 2001 DOP has been making
select mutual fund product available through post
offices. Five years ago UTI Mutual Fund and
Department of Post joined hands to bring capital
markets closer to common man in semi urban and rural
areas. India Post provides penetration to the
remotest corners of India making mutual fund
popular.
Recognising the crucial role, India Post was
facilitated on 24th September 2009 with UTI-CNBC
special commendation award in the form of “Financial
Advisor Awards 08-09” trophy for effectively
utilizing its network to promote financial inclusion
in smaller places.
An efficient and reliable communication network is
the lifeline of the nation and plays a crucial role
in socio-economic development and the integration of
the country. For nearly a century and half the
Postal System has been the main component of the
communication infrastructure for the country. Given
the need for a strong communication and financial
infrastructure, India Post is preparing to meet both
challenges and avail of the opportunities presented
by current market conditions. With its efforts India
Post will make social, commercial and industrial
life possible in the remotest parts of India.
Though, traditionally India Post have been the
courier of peoples’ emotions and trust but changing
with times will make India Post even more attractive
and useful because of its reach and credibility.
*Deputy Director (M&C), PIB, New Delhi
RTS/VN
SS-113/SF-113/09.10.2009
**Deputy Director (M&C), PIB, New Delhi
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