The World Post Day is celebrated on October 9, the foundation day of the Universal Postal Union (UPU). Being a member of UPU, India Post celebrates the National Postal Week starting from World Post Day to October 15 with a view to creating awareness on postal services and its contribution to the social and economic development of the country.
The India Post is the largest postal network in world having 1,55,531 Post Offices (POs) out of which 15,649 urban POs and 1,39,882 Rural POs. On an average, 8,770 people are served by a PO in the country as a whole. In rural area a PO serves 6,455 people where as in urban area a PO serves 29,458 people on an average area of 21.14 sqkm.
If we go back to the history, the first PO was setup at Kolkata in the year 1727. There after three GPOs were also set up in presidencies of Kolkata (1774), Chennai (1786) and Mumbai (1793). The present postal system came into operation with the IPO Act of 1854; and since October 1854, it is playing a key role in the socioeconomic development of the country and connecting its parts. Due to use of internet, smart phone and social media, postal communication is reducing day by day throughout the world. So India Post has introduced new services to meet the expectations of its customers.
Under IT modernization project, the India Post has been transformed into a technology enabled and self reliant market leader. The primary objective is to improve and automate postal services and its business activities by reengineering and creating efficient operational systems.
Under Rural ICT Project DARPAN (Digital Advancement of Rural Post Office for a New India) 129,089 Branch POs have been supplied computer hardware, solar charging devices and network connectivity.
The India Post operates savings schemes like Savings Bank Accounts, RD, TD, MIS, PPF, NSC, KVP, SCSS and SSA on behalf of Finance Ministry through all its 1,55,531 branches and disbursing wages for MGNREGS beneficiaries through Savings Bank Accounts since 2005 on behalf of Panchayati Raj Ministry. Mobile banking, internet banking and ATM facilities are provided to customers under Core Banking Solutions (CBS) in POs. As on March 31, CBS has been made operational in 23,686 PO and 996 ATMs have been inter-linked which are also interoperable with other banks.
The India Post being a customer friendly organization emphasizes on specific customer requirements and introduced several premium services like Speed Post, Express Parcel, Business Parcel, Retail Post, e-Post, e-Payment , Logistic Post and Business Post to meet the present-day requirements. Due to growth in the e- commerce market in recent years, the India Post has established a separate marketing division in April in parcel Directorate. The India Post has earned a revenue of Rs 98.45 crore in 2018-19(upto February 19) from business and express parcel services.
To improve the delivery service, the India Post has established Automated Mail Processing Centers in Delhi and Kolkata where letter sorting machine and a Mixed Mail Sorter having a sorting capacity of 35,000 and 18,000 items per hour respectively have been installed.
Speed Post was started by India Post in August, 1986 for providing time-bound services between specified locations. During the 33 years, it became the market leader and handling above 4 crore consignments per month with facility of booking/delivery in maximum POs. Speed Post became the first choice of people for sending their Rakhi.
The India Post provides Aadhaar update and enrolment facility through 13,352 POs till March. Above 12.08 lakh enrolments and 39.22 lakh updates have been done from January 1, 2018 to March 31, 2019 and India Post has earned revenue of Rs 2,971.18 crore (provisional) during the financial year 2018-19.
Both Ministry of External Affairs and India Post have agreed to provide Passport services through selected Head Post Offices in various States as Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK) since 2017. 412 POPSKs have been opened upto March. During the period from January, 2018 to March, 2019, around 22.02 lakh applications have been processed in these POPSKs.
The India Post is providing Retail Post services which include collection of electricity bills, telephone bills, taxes and fees. Railway reservation tickets for all classes are being issued at selected Post Offices as per MOU with the Ministry of Railways. The service is available at 335 Post Offices as on March 31.
The oldest life insurance schemes for benefit of Government/Semi Government employees is PLI which was introduced in 1884 and now it has widened its service area to recognized schools, registered professionals like doctors, engineers, consultants, CAs, architects, lawyers, bankers and employees of listed companies. The RPLI was introduced in 1995 for the benefit of rural people. As on March 31, aggregate number of active policies in PLI and RPLI are 44.03 lakh and 139.14 lakh, respectively.
The India Post Payments Bank(IPPB) is a public limited company under the control of Department Post with a target to become most accessible , affordable and trusted bank where banking facilities are not available. Till March 31, 2018, the IPPB is offering payments bank services through 650 branches and 135,496 access points(POs).
Though volume of individual mails have been reduced, the business mails, Speed Post articles and services rendered by India Post on behalf of third party is on an increasing trend, which proves that still people are in need of India Post for communication and socio -economic development of the country.
(The writer is organising secretary P&T Accounts & Finance Officers’ Association (CHQ), Postal Accounts Office, Cuttack, Mob: 9437160036)