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The mega project to make the countrys postal Services green and restore their old glory has been delayed, bringing pressure on the Government to expedite the process of IT induction in the massive network of 1,55,000 post offices
The IT Induction and Modernisation Project aims at improving the Working of the Department of Posts across all its functionsfaster and more reliable services in postal, logistics, banking, insurance and retail operations.
The transformation of physical network to a digital network will provide a national asset for all users, apart from post offices, like various government departments, business houses and citizens.
The digitisation would bridge the rural and urban divide and bring about transparency.
For example, the implementation of the rural ICT Solution will enable the Department of Posts to roll out Direct Benefit Transfer(DBT) through a network of 1.55 lakh post offices in rural as well as urban areas.
Rural post offices will be enabled with hand-held device with biometric identification and Micro ATM enablement, wireless network, thermal printer to provide immediate receipt to customers and solar powered battery to charge and operate the ATM.
The objective is to provide technology solution to each branch master to improve the quality of services being offered by 1,30,00 branches to rural customers.
The ease of transactions will encourage rural citizens to avail the services of Post offices, thereby having a positive impact on the rural economy, besides improving financial inclusion.
The postal modernisation would enable the rural postal network to create institutional infrastructure for last mile delivery of all government services to all citizens.
The project will make the post offices the focal point of delivery for social security and employment guarantee schemes of the Centre and state governments, including disbursement of wages under MGNREGS, pensions and scholarship.
With the roll-out of the IT Induction and Modernisation Project, the Department of Posts would be in a position to introduce several new services in the future like delivery of e-commerce articles, offering seamless track and trace facility and paying phone/electricity Bills, booking train and air tickets.
However, there are major challenges faced by the Department, including the time-consuming nature of public procurement of process, selected vendors not taking up the allocated work leading to major delays, telecom connectivity issues in areas like the North-East, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Ladakh and island territories and on top of that managing the workforce of 4.66 lakh employees which have no prior experience of working in an IT-enabled environment.
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