Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday launched a slew of projects and services of the postal department and BSNl during a function at the Michael John auditorium in Bistupur. He also released a list of achievements of his department.
Prasad said the Central Government was working to make a digitally-empowered society and his department would achieve it. “It is our ambition and we are working hard for the postal payment bank. We have so far opened about 3 crore accounts and disbursed Rs1,50,000 crore as loan, 70 per cent of which was granted to women,” he said.
“We want to ensure that postal banking spreads its reach. 50 banks from India and abroad are keen to associate with the postal department. This shows that Indian Post was charting the growth route,” Prasad said.
Shedding light on the postal parcel revenue front, he said it was down by 1 per cent in 2013-14 but went up to 28 per cent in the next fiscal. “This year is a boom year and it has increased by 80 per cent in the 2015-16 fiscal,” he said.
Prasad highlighted that core banking of the postal department has even left the State Bank of India behind and added a total of 1.3 lakh mobile phones have been distributed among postmen working across the country.
Talking about BSNl, Prasad said there are 102 crore mobile users in the country, including 27 crore smart phone users, and e-commerce was growing at a speed of 76 per cent. According to him, the BSNl has registered Rs672 crore operating profit and is expected to touch the Rs2,000 crore-mark in the next fiscal.
Prasad said his department has laid 1.22 lakh km of optical fibre in 2.5 lakh gram panchayats across the country.
During the function, the Minister digitally inaugurated the parcel hub, the post shoppe of Jamshedpur General Post Office, postman mobile app, e-stamping of non-judicial stamp besides handing over certificates, cheques and pass books to beneficiaries of Sukanya Samridhi Yojna, Atal Pension Yojna, Dak Jeevan Yojna and Pradhan Mantri Bima Yojana.
Union Minister of State for Rural Development Sudarshan Bhagat, former Chief Minister Arjun Munda, Jamshedpur MP Bidyut Baran Mahto, State Food and Civil Supplies Minister Saryu Roy, BJP national general secretary Saroj Pandey were also present.