India Post with Corporate Image & IT Compatible

India Post set for Corporate Image & IT Compatible

India Post is set for a makeover with a slew of initiatives to give it a corporate image and make it information technology compatible, ranging from ATM service in post offices and acquiring cargo aircraft of its own to investing postal insurance funds in the market.
Speaking to presspersons after inaugurating the modernised General Post Office here on Monday, Radhika Doraiswamy, Secretary (Posts), Government of India, said that starting October 1, funds collected under Postal Life Insurance (PLI) would remain with India Post and would not be moved to the Ministry of Finance like earlier.
This fund will be invested in the market, as directed by a board constituted to take care of the safety of public money. State Bank of India and UTI Bank have been appointed fund managers, said Ms. Doraiswamy.
ATMs in post offices
Explaining the other initiatives, she said that post offices in towns and cities would soon have ATMs. The department had appointed Accenture to provide technology solutions. This, said Ms. Doraiswamy, was part of the Prime Minister’s 100-day programme.
The ATM service will be available in seven post offices in six cities in Karnataka in the first phase of implementation, including two in Bangalore.
The ATM service will be available at the General Post Office and the RT Nagar Post Office in Bangalore, and the main post offices in Gulbarga, Mysore, Mangalore, Hubli and Bijapur. This facility is likely to be available by January next year.
Railway booking facility will also be provided in 5,000 post offices.
Ms. Doraiswamy said that India Post would acquire two aircraft of its own to improve cargo services. This, she said, would decrease its dependence on Air India and other operators.
Eurogiro network
In another significant move, India Post will join the Eurogiro, a payment remittance network linked to post offices, banks and financial institutions in 50 countries. India Post will be the first organisation in the country to join the network. It will be operational in a month, said Ms. Doraiswamy.
“All these measures will generate trust in the postal department, which has slightly eroded in the recent past,” she said. As many as 9,000 vacant posts will be filled soon, she added.
Hindu