INDIAN POSTAL DEPARTMENT AND SERVICES

Project Arrow The Department has launched “Project Arrow”, to lay the foundation for a comprehensive, long term transformation of India Post. Project Arrow aims at comprehensive improvement of the core operations of the post office as well as the ambience in which postal transactions are undertaken. The response of the general public and the staff of the Department to the initiative has been overwhelmingly positive and Project arrow offices have shown significant increase in revenue earnings. The initiative Project Arrow- Transforming India Post has also won the Prime Minister’s award for Excellence in Public Administration for the year 2008-09. So far 1530 Post Offices have been covered under this project.

Mail Operations In order to streamline the processes relating to processing, transmission and delivery of mail and to improve the quality of service of mail products used by the public, the Department of Posts has undertaken a number of new initiatives. Mail Network Optimization Project has been launched to optimize the existing mail network of Department of Posts and streamline core mail operations. It also seeks to bring in greater standardization and improvement in the operational processes relating to mail processing, transmission and delivery. The Department has undertaken a project to set up Automated Mail Processing Centers (AMPCs) in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad with a view to automate mail sorting. These automated systems would be used for sorting of mail, which would help the Department in increasing the productivity at Mail Offices in these cities. The Department has inducted a dedicated cargo aircraft for carriage of mail, parcels and logistics to the North East Region in order to bring in consistency in mail transmission. The India Post aircraft operates on Kolkata-Guwahati-Imphal-Agartala-Kolkata route on a regular basis. This initiative has provided a vital communication link for the NE region in terms of its linkages with the rest of the country and helped the Department e-solve the problems associated with mail transmission to and from this region. The Department has also undertaken an initiative to put in place a National Address Database Management System with an objective to effectively manage the address database of public/customers, update the addresses online, and helping the customers in locating correct addresses. The Department has also mechanized the mail delivery processes in the North-East Region of the country with a view to expedite the mail delivery process in hilly and difficult terrains of the Region. GPS device has been provided in all Mail Motor Vehicles in NE region for better and safe monitoring of mail movement in the region.

Computerization and Networking of Post Offices Under the plan project of computerization and networking of Post Offices, Department of Posts has supplied computer hardware, peripherals and power back up equipments to 14324 Post Offices till date. Under XI Plan Scheme, upgraded computer hardware viz. servers, desktops peripherals etc and power backup equipments like UPS and gensets have been supplied to 1939 Post Offices computerized during earlier five year plans. 1308 sites/ locations have been connected under Wide Area Network (WAN). All Head Post Offices, Administrative Offices, Major Speed Post Centres and Accounts Offices have been connected under WAN. 10530 Offices have been provided with broadband facilities. The IT Modernization Project Phase II of India Post under XI plan envisages computerization of all the non-computerized Post Offices in the country (Departmental single handed Post Offices) and all GDS Post Offices phased over the financial years 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13. Extensive computerization of the post offices have allowed the introduction of many e-enabled services such as:

iMO An on-line domestic money transmission service called iMO was launched in January 2006 which enables the customer to receive money in minutes from any of the post offices providing this service. Under this service, a person can send amount from Rs.1000/- up to Rs.50,000/- in one transaction. It is already functional in 9250 Post Offices across the country

e-Money Order (eMO) The electronic money order, which has been launched in October 2008, facilitates transmission of ordinary money orders through electronic media. eMO have the same tariff structure as the existing money order service. India Post has also signed bilateral agreement for exchange of electronic international money order service with Emirates posts, UAE.

e-Payment e-Payment is a ‘Many to One’ service through which bills (telephone, electricity, municipal dues, taxes etc.) are paid by customers in Post Offices which are then electronically consolidated and paid to the service provider. The service is presently available in more than 8,000 Post Offices across the country and will soon be extended to all computerized Post Offices.

FINANCIAL SERVICES India Post is pursuing the objective of financial inclusion through its 1,39,182 post offices in rural areas and 15,797 post offices in urban areas. The total number of accounts with post office has increased from ` 14.23 crore in 2003-04 to 24.10 crore in 2009-10. The outstanding balance in Post Office Savings Bank accounts in 2009-10 was ` 5,83,789 crore. India Post has already computerised its Savings bank operations in 11,000 post offices. Some of the new initiatives in provision of Financial Services are

Postal Finance Mart Postal Finance Mart (PFM) offer all the financial products and services under one roof “One Stop Shop for Financial Services” in a fully computerized office supported by technology, at par with reputed banking institutions. During 10th Five Year Plan, a total of 313 postal finance Marts have been set up across the country. A target for setting up of 500 postal Finance Marts has been fixed for the 11th Five Year Plan, out which 122 have already been set up.

Core Banking solution for Post Office Small Savings Scheme customers Any-where, Any-time and Any branch banking i.e. Core Banking Solutions (CBS) is included in the X1 Five Year Plan with a financial outlay of Rs. 106 crores for development of CBS software, Customer Relations Management, Training Project Management Unit, Centrallized Bank Office, etc. which support Post Office Savings Bank and Saving Certificates business with improved operational efficiency with delivery channels like ATM, internet, phone and mobile banking services to Small Savings Scheme customers.

PLI/RPLI. The post offices also provide insurance services to Government and semi-government employees and to the rural populace under the banner of POSTAL LIFE INSURANCE (PLI) and RURAL POSTAL LIFE INSURANCE (RPLI). The number of Rural Postal Life Insurance policies has increased from 26.66 lakhs in 2003-04 to more than 70 lakhs in 2008-09 and more than 99 lakhs in 2009-10. Postal Life Insurance policies were more than 44 lakhs as on 31.3.2010

PREMIUM SERVICES Premium services such as Speed Post, Bill Mail Service, Business Post, Express Parcel Post, Logistics Post, Media Post and retail Post etc. are being provided through the postal Network across India. The revenue from premium products has been growing consistently. During the year 2009-10 revenue through these services was 1625 crore, an increase of 13.24% over the revenue of 1435 crore accrued during the year 2008-09.

A new cadre for the Postmasters has been created so as to bring in professionalism in management of the post offices. This cadre will play a critical role in making post offices vibrant and user friendly organizations as well as in successful implementation of the flag ship project India post 2012 for induction of IT and modernization.

International Remittance Services The contribution of international remittances to the country’s GDP has been gaining increasing recognition in recent years. According to World Bank estimates, India would be receiving US $ 55 billion in remittances from abroad during 2010, which is much more than any other country. The Post Office is widely considered the friendliest and safest channel for remittances. India Post has recognised the significance of this business segment, and is offering a portfolio of remittance services to customers. This ranges from instant money transfer on the Western Union platform , to electronic money orders on the International Financial System, the latter being a collaborative platform among postal operators. India Post has recently launched the MO Videsh international money order service on the Euro Giro platform. India Post is also actively supporting the efforts of the Universal Postal Union to set up worldwide systems for money remittances and payments, that are accessible and affordable to the common people.