Wish you all a Happy New Year 2018

Wish you all a Happy New Year 2018

Unstarred Question in Rajya Sabha Regarding Vacancies in Postal Department

Labour Movement.

Need For Trade Unions:

 Why do workers organize themselves into a trade union? It is however, a significant question. The worker joins a trade union for a variety of reasons, but he may be no more conscious of the motive or motives that prompt him to join a union. The trade unions are the organizations formed by working male and female workers both to improve the conditions of labour and to further to attain better life.

i.                        The individual workers all alone feels especially weak in a world of mass production and mass movement. An organization may give him an opportunity to join others for the achievement of those objectives that he considers as socially desirable.

ii.                         The basic purpose of trade union is to safeguard the economic interests of its members. One of the problems in the life of the workers is how to provide sufficient food, clothing and a home for himself and for the members of his family. This is first and foremost a question of finding a job on a reasonable wage. To improve and maintain the wage at 47 a reasonable standard is one of the primary reasons for which a worker joins a trade union.

iii.                         A worker does not only require the bare necessaries of existence but he also wants to obtain the amenities of civilized life, e.g., a better home, more leisure, better conditions of work, etc. The workers also join the trade unions, to a very large extent, because they have interests such as these to promote or defend.

iv.                         The need for trade unions arises due to this fact also that the workers require help in time of sickness or death, protection from suffering and want when they are not of a job and an income of some kind when they are too old to work any more.

v.                         There is anesthetic reason for the existence of trade unions, viz., need for adequate machinery for settling the relations between the employers and employees. In modern industry the old personal relationship between the employers and the workers largely disappears. The worker may become dissatisfied with his working conditions or the treatment of his employers while the employer may feel that he has reason for complaint against the workers. With the growth 48 to industry the number of such questions to be settled increases and it is much better to adjust these differences by agreement between the employers and employees through negotiations. Thus, a trade union is the best and socially most desirable to conduct bargaining on behalf of the workers and the development of collective bargaining between the employers' and workers' organizations is an essential basis for the establishment of peace in industry.

vi.                         Trade unions developed on proper lines lessens violent class conflicts and, thus, is beneficial to employers, the employees, the state and the public. It is, thus, clear that no agency formed or promoted to look after the interests of the workers can be a real substitute for trade unions. The organization of workers is, therefore, not only necessary but also inevitable.

OBJECTIVES AND NEED OF TRADE UNIONS :

Unions concentrate their attention to achieve the following objectives:

(A) Wages and Salaries : The subject which drew the major attention of the trade unions are wages and salaries. This item may be related to policy matters. However, differences may arise in the process of their implementation. In the case of unorganised senior the trade union plays a crucial role in bargaining the pay scales. The Workers should be provided with need based minimum wage.

(B) Working Conditions : Trade unions with a view to safeguard the health of workers demand the management to provide all the basic facilities such as lighting and ventilation, sanitation, rest rooms, safety equipment while discharging hazardous duties, drinking water, refreshment, minimum working hours, leave and rest, holidays with pay, job satisfaction, social security benefits and other welfare measures. The concept of 48 hrs a week should be adopted.

(C) Personnel Policies : Trade unions may fight against improper implementation of personnel policies in respect of recruitment, selection, promotions, transfers, training, etc.

(D) Discipline : Trade unions not only conduct negotiations in respect of the items with which their working conditions may be improved but also protect the workers from the clutches of management whenever workers become the victims of management's unilateral acts and disciplinary policies. This victimisation may take the form of penal transfers, suspensions, dismissals etc. In such a situation the separated worker who is left in a helpless condition may approach the trade union. Ultimately, the problem may be brought to the notice of management by the trade union, which explains about the injustice meted out to an individual worker and fights the management for justice. Thus, the victimised worker may be protected by the trade union.

(E) Welfare : As stated earlier, trade unions are meant for the welfare of workers. Trade union works as a guide, consulting authority and cooperates inn overcoming the personal problems of workers. It may bring to the notice of management, through collective bargaining meetings the difficulties of workers in respect of sanitation, hospitals, quarters, schools and colleges for their children's cultural and social problems.

(F) Employee-Employer Relations : Harmonious relations between the employees and employer are sine quanon for industrial peace. A trade union always strives for achieving this objective. However, the bureaucratic attitude and unilateral thinking of management may lead to conflicts in the organisation which, ultimately, disrupt the relations between the workers and the management. Trade union, being the representative of all the workers, may carry out continuous negotiations with the management with a view to promoting industrial peace.

(G) Negotiating Machinery : Negotiations include the proposals made by one party and the counterproposals of the other. This process continues until the parties reach an agreement. Thus, negotiations are based on the give and take' principle. Trade union, being a party for negotiations, protects the interests of workers through collective bargaining. Thus, the trade union works as the negotiating machinery.

(H) Safeguarding Organisational Health and the Interest of the Industry : Organisational health can be diagnosed by methods evolved for grievance redressal and techniques adopted to reduce the rate of absenteeism and labour turnover and to improve the employee relations. Trade union by their effective working may achieve employee satisfaction. Therefore trade unions help in reducing the rate of absenteeism, labour turnover and developing systematic grievance settlement procedures leading to harmonious industrial relations. Trade unions can thus contribute to the improvements in level of production, productivity and discipline thereby improving quality of work-life.

FUNCTIONS OF TRADE UNIONS :

Trade unions in present era of industrial development, perform two sets of functions: the "Militant Functions and the Fraternal Functions." The trade union is a militant organisation designed to fight for the cause of the workers. One of the main aims of the organisation of workers into trade union is to secure better conditions of work and employment. The trade 49 unions try to fulfill this aim by the method of collective bargaining and negotiations and if they do not succeed in securing their purpose in this manner, they put up a fight with the employers for achieving their end in the form of strikes and boycotts. More recently, the trade unions have started making efforts to secure some share in the profits and also control of the industry. Then, the trade union is also a fraternal association, a benefit organization, providing sickness and accident benefits to the members and supporting them during strikes and lockouts and during the period when they are temporarily out of work. Such financial help to the members is given by the trade unions out of their own funds created through subscriptions by members. Such functions are known as fraternal functions : However, in modern period, the various functions are performed by trade unions as pointed out below:

Social Responsibilities of Trade Unions

         i.           To educate the rank and file workers so that the traditional agitational role be gradually transformed into one of understanding and co-operation;

       ii.            To keep the well-being and progress of the society constantly before them by way of refraining from unnecessary strikes work stoppage, go-slow intimidation;

     iii.            To protect the interests of the consumer which is usually lost sight of in bipartite agreements reached between the parties;

     iv.           To discharge their role in the success of the schemes for planned economic development of the country, maximizing production and distribution in an equitable manner. According to the first plan document, "for the successful execution of the plan,' the co-operation of the trade unions and employers is indispensable." The Second Plan document also emphasized that, "a strong trade union movement is necessary both for safe guarding the interests of labour and for realizing the targets of production";

       v.           To adopt themselves to charging social needs and to rise above divisive forces of caste, religion and language and to 53 help in promoting national, social and emotional integration at all levels

     vi.           To instil in their members a sense of responsibility towards industry and the community. Further they should seek to harmonise the sectional goals of their members with the community interests in the larger good of the society;

The Initial Stage of Labour Movement in India  :

1. The earliest labour leaders were Sasipada Banerjee of Bengal, S.S. Bengalee of Mumbai and N.M. Lokhanday of Mumbai.

2. First labour organization was Working Men’sClub founded in 1870 by Sasipada Banerjee at Kolkata. Sasipada Banerjee published the journal Bharat Sramjeevi.

3. N.M. Lokhandav could be regarded as the first leader of the Indian workers. In 1890 he founded Mumbai Mill hands Association and protested against the poor conditions in the factories. He published the journal Dinbandhu.

4. Other important workers organization were the Kamgar  Hitavardhak Sabhan (1909), the Social Service League (1911), Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants of India (1897), Printers Union of Kolkata (1905) Postal Union in Mumbai.

5. The Chennai Labour Union, founded in 1918 by B.P.Wadia was perhaps the first trade union organization of Indian on modern lines.

6. On Oct. 31, 1920 All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), which was influenced by the Social Democratic ideas of British labour party. It was also influenced by moderates like N.M.Joshi.

7. The first session of AITUC was held in Mumbai. Lala Lajpat Rai was the President & Dewam Cham Lal was the Secretary.

8. First session was attended by C.R. Das, V.V. Giri, J.L. Nehru, S.C. Bose, Sarojini Naidu, Satyamurti and C.F. Andrew.

9. Gandhi founded Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association also known as Majdur Mahajan in1918-20.

10. A Giri Kamgar Mahamandal was founded by A.A. Alve and G.R. Kasle in Mumbai. This emerged as Girni Kamgar Union in 1928 under thecommunists.

11. Split took place in AITUC in 1929 session which was presided over by J.L. Nehru over the issue of affiliation and issue of boycott of royal commission on labour.

12. In 1929 AITUC was divided into two groups.

·         The Reformers called Geneva Amsterdum Group, which wanted affiliation with the International Federation of Trade Unions.

·         The Revolutionary or Moscovite Group which wanted affiliation with Red Labour Union (RITU).

·         AITUC was affiliated to pan-pacific secretariat and to the Third International.

13. In protest N.M. Joshi withdrew and formed All India Trade Union Federation in 1929. V.V. Giri was its first president.

14. Second split took place in 1931 and Red Trade Union Congress was founded.

15. In 1933, N.M. Joshi & R.R. Bakhle founded National Trade Union Federation.

16. Unity was restored in AITUC in 1940.

17. A pro-government Union was founded IndianFederation of Labour.

18. Indian National Trade Union Congress was founded in 1944 by Nationalist leaders led by Sardar Vallabhabhai Patel.

19.The non-cooperation movement launched by Gandhi deserves special mention in this connection. As a result of the efforts made by Gandhiji, Ahmedabad Textile Labor Association was established.

20. Trade union Hind Mazdoor Sabha in 1949.

21. In 1955, Jan Sangh also established a labor organization. The trade union under the aegis of Jan Sangh was known as “Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh”. Its headquarters was in Bhopal. Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh is not a popular trade union.

22. Socialist Party had established another trade union and this is known as Hind Mazdoor Panchayat.

23. CITU is a National level Trade Union in India politically affiliated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) as its trade union wing and is a spearhead of the Indian Trade Union Movement founded in 1970.

Present challenges of the Trade Union Movement in India :

Small Size of Unions:

Though trade unions are of various sizes with thousands of members, yet, most of the unions are still characterized by their small size and small membership. The average membership per union in India is less than 800, as compared with the U.K (17,600) the USA (9,500).  Rivalry among the leaders and the Central Organisations has resulted in multiplicity of unions thereby reducing the average membership. It is noteworthy that as the number of unions increases, the total membership does not increase proportionately. If rival unions could be stopped from being evolved, the average size of unions could definitely go up.

Financial Weakness:

Trade unions suffer from financial weakness as the average yearly income of the unions has been rather low and inadequate. The average income has been low not because of the poverty of the workers but because of certain factors namely, workers are apathetic towards trade unions and do not want to contribute out of their hard earned money.

Another method advocated is the introduction of the “Checkoff system,” under which an employer undertakes on the basis of a collective agreement, to deduct union dues from the worker’s pay and transfer the same to the union.

Multiplicity of Trade Unions:

Multiple trade unions are the biggest curse of Indian trade union movement. Existence of many unions each trying to compete with each other on membership drive and securing management support to recognise their union, not only weakens the trade union movement but also cause inter-union rivalry and disunity among the workers.

Leadership Issue:

Another disquieting feature of the trade unions is outside leadership, i.e., leadership of trade unions by persons who are professional politicians and lawyers and have no history of physical work in the industry. In many cases retired persons are also act as leaders ,leadership should be within the industry

Management Attitude:

Management, by and large, take an unhelpful attitude. Unionism is considered by them as an anathema. Union leaders, according to managers are trouble makers. They are there to break the harmony between the management and workers. They restrict the managers; power in decision-making, question their discretion and wisdom and obstruct their “right to manage”. Given this mindset, very often, they find fault with union for all difficulties faced by management; be it on low productivity, low quality, low profitability or lack of good will from customers. No doubt, some union leaders are also responsible for the negative image of their unions because of use of muscle power, money power and militant methods adopted by them which is called “irresponsible unionism”. Managers also take advantage of multiple trade unions and their inter-union rivalry by playing one against another. Another area is the recognition of trade union to become a bargaining agent. Management makes use of the loopholes of the existing labour legislation in with holding or delaying the recognition. Management considers trade union a legal obligation. This does not bring faith and good will.

Statutory Support:

Indian constitution considers formation of association as a fundamental right. Indian Trade Union Act allows any seven workers to join together and form a Trade union. Both give rise these file to formation of multiple trade unions which goes against the very concept of unionism-the unity workers. No central legislation now exists which makes it compulsory for management to recognize more than one unions or not to recognize anyone. This has further weakened the trade union and their bargaining power. The Indian Trade Union Act further allows 50 per cent of officer-bearers from outside the organization and 10 per cent of leadership from outside. This provision resulted politicisation, and remote control of union activities from outside the organisations. Even the “code of discipline” only recommend recognition of trade union as a voluntary action. Recognition of trade union causes rivalry from others who are not recognized. This problem can be tackled by bringing out comprehensive central legislation covering all aspects such as Recognition, Multiplicity, Outside leadership, etc.

Factors affecting workers in Modern World:

1.      The unemployment in India is effecting the present day worker, the employer can have his choice of worker as plenty of man power is available with him, so there is  a fear in the mind of the worker of losing his job ,  this fear is only restricted to un organised sectors .

2.      Modern day technology is affecting the worker, he has to adopt to the new technology otherwise he may have to lose his job for the youngsters, who have technology savvy.

3.      Modernisation is killing the jobs, less man power is required for doing the same job due to technology up gradation.   

4.      Privatisation of Government Jobs is a major threat, many of the Government jobs are privatised.   

5.      Inflation rate is at 5% , the money value has gone down , the wages are not increasing as much as inflation is increasing .

6.      The concept of need based minimum wage is still a dream, the worker is deprived of a proper wages and allowances, as due to competition especially in private industries ,this concept of need based minimum wage is not implemented in spirit of ILO convention.

7.      The many jobs in both Government and Private sector are done on contract basis , this phenomena of contract basis is catching fast and very dangerous.        

Conclusion :

           Comrades to fight against these policy’s, the both the members of the union / association and the leadership should be more serious in their approach. Now are never , organise and educate each and every worker / employee .

                        Save our Jobs for better future of our children.      

 Courtesy : CoC Karnataka

TRADE UNION RIGHTS UNDER ATTACK

WE WILL NOT SURRENDER OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT

                                                                                   M. Krishnan

                                                                                   Secretary General, Confederation.

Right to peaceful protest is a constitutional right and right to assemble and demonstrate by holding dharnas is the basic features of an effective democratic system.

                   Article 19 of the Indian Constitution is one of the most important article constituting the “basic feedoms” guaranteed to every citizen of India.  Article 19(1) provides that all citizens shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression, assembly, associations, movement, residence and practicing any trade, business, occupation or profession.  Article 19(1)(b) guarantees to all citizens of India, rights to “assemble peacefully and without arms”.  This right includes the right to hold meetings and take out processions.  Of course, assembly must be peaceful, harmonious,unarmed and not threatening the safety of the people.  Reasonable restrictions can be imposed under clause(3) of Article 19.

                   The right to assembly embodies the very idea of a democratic system.  Article 9 (1)(b) thus includes the right to hold meetings and to take out  processions.  It has been reviewed, studied and interpreted numerous times by the Supreme Court.  In its judgements Supreme Court has upheld the right to peaceful protest as a constitutional right and the right to assemble and demonstrate by holding dharnas is the basic feature of democratic system.  People in a democracy have a right to raise their voices against the decisions and unreasonable actions of the Government or to express their opinion in any subject of national importance.  The Government is obliged to respect and encourage the exercise of such rights.

                   This being the position, the political powers have resorted to the use of authoritation powers to stop the Central Government employees from exercising their constitutional right of conducting peaceful dharnas and demonstrations on 19-09-2017 and 17-10-2017 under the banner of Confederation of Central Govt. Employees & Workers.  By conducting the programmes on 19-09-2017 and 17-10-2017 in a massive manner throughout the country, defying the Govt. orders, Confederation has upheld the constitutional right enshrined in the Constitution of India

2017 - OUR EXPERIENCE & 2018 - OUR PLEDGE

TRUST OF EMPLOYEES AND PENSIONERS RETRAYED
AND THEIR HOPES ENDED IN DESPAIR

“THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE TO THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE”

M. Krishnan

Secretary General, Confederation

                   Seventh Central Pay Commission Chairman, Justice (Retired) Ashok Kumar Mathur in his foreword to 7th CPC Report has quoted the following lines in the case of Bhupendra Nath Hazarika and another Versus State of Assam & others wherein the Supreme Court of India has observed as follows:

                   “It should always be borne in mind that legitimate aspirations of the employees are not guillotined and a situation is not created where hopes end in despair.  Hopes for every one is graciously precious and that a model employer should not convert it to be deceitful and treacherous.....  A sense of calm sensibility and concerned sincerity should be reflected at every step.  An atmosphere of trust has to prevail and when the employees are absolutely sure that their trust shall not be betrayed and they shall be treated with dignified fairness, then only the concept of good governance can be concretized.  We say no more.”

                   We don’t know whether the powers-that-be at the helm of affiars of the Central Government has ever read the above observations of the Apex Court quoted by 7th CPC.  Fact remains - BJP-led NDA Government has guillotined the legitimate aspirations of the Central Government employees and pensioners and created a situation wherein their graciously precious hopes ended in despair.  The Government converted their hopes to be deceitful and treacherous.  The stand taken by the Government is devoid of calm sensibility and concerned sincerity.  Trust of the 32 lakhs employees and 33 lakhs pensioners is betrayed and their expectations of fair treatment from Government has been proved wrong.

Who gave the hopes and who betrayed:

                   In the wake of indefinite strike call given by National Joint Council of Action (NJCA) of Central Govt. Employees from 11th July 2016, in the crucial meeting held in the night of 30th June 2016, solemn assurance was given by none other than the topmost Cabinet Ministers of NDA Government Sri. Rajnath Singh, Home Minister, Sri. Arun Jaitley, Finance Minister and Shri. Suresh Prabhu, then Railway Minister.  It was told that Hon’ble Prime Minister Sri. Narendra Modiji has directed the group of Ministers to hold discussion with NJCA leaders.  Group of Ministers gave categorical assurance that minimum pay and fitment formula will be increased and for that purpose a High Level Committee will be constituted.  Again on 6th July 2016 Sri. Rajnath Singh, Home Minister, reiterated the assurance and Finance Ministry issued a press statement confirming the assurance.  Leaders and employees trusted the words of the Senior Cabinet Ministers.  Eighteen (18) months are over.  No High Level Committee is constituted.  No hike in minimum pay and fitment formula is granted.

Delaying tactics and then denial:

                   From the very begining of coming to power, the NDA Govt. has adopted a tactics of “delay and then deny” the legitimate aspirations of the Central Govt. Employees and Pensioners.  Pay Commission was granted four months extension.  Empowered Committee took seven months and pay scales were implemented without any change after seven months delay from the date of submission of 7th CPC report.  Allowance Committee took one year and finally arrears of HRA and other allowances for eighteen months are denied.  Pension Option-I Committee was appointed to deny the one and the only favourable recommendations of the 7th CPC for Pensioners.  NPS Committee made it clear that withdrawl of NPS or guaranteeing minimum pension (50% of the last pay drawn) are not under its purview.  Anomaly Committee informed the JCM Staff side that 80% of the items submitted by staff side including increase in minimum pay and fitment formula will not constitute an anomaly and hence will not come under the purview of the Anomaly Committee.  Regarding implementation of the positive recommendations of Kamalesh Chandra Committee on Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS) also almost eleven (11) months are over after the submission of the report to Govt. on 24-11-2016.  The brutal exploitation of casual and contract workers is increasing day by day.  Eventhough Modified Assured Career Progression (MACP) is not regular promotion, instead of seniority-cum-fitness Government imposed more stringent conditions to deny the promotions to thousands of employees.

Wage, Job, Social Security and Trade Union rights under attack:

                   Not only the legitimate pay and allowances of the Central Govt. employees are denied, their job security is also under attack due to the neo-liberal policies pursued aggressively by the NDA Government. Many work done by Railway Employees are outsourced and privatised and now leasing out of Railway stations and Railway Land to private corporates under PPP model is under progress. Decision has been taken by Government to outsource and privatise Defence production and related activities like Research, Maintenance and services etc. and to permit 100% FDI in Defence industry.  200 products being manufactured by the Ordinance factories are ordered to be handed over to private corporates.  Small Svings Schemes which was the monopoly of the Postal Department is outsourced to private banks and orders for outsorucing of booking and delivery of registered and speed post article is also issued.  Out of 17 Govt. of India Printing Presses 12 presses are ordered to be closed as per Cabinet decision.  Many other small departments are also facing the attack of outsourcing, privatisation and closure.

                   Orders are issued by Govt. threatening serious disciplinary action against employees who participate in dharnas, demonstraions and strikes.  JCM National Council meeting we as not held for the last seven years. Most of the Departmental Councils are not functioning. Chief Executives of recognised Associations are harassed and vindictively transferred and recognition and trade union facilities to the Associations are withdrawn.  Results of the membership verification under the Recognition Rules are not being declared and even verification process under check-off system is stopped half-way.

                   NPS has become “No-Pension System” as many of the employees who retired after 10 to 12 years are getting monthly annuity pension (from  Insurance Company) less than Rs.2,000/- only whereas the minimum pension for 10 years service under the old pension scheme is now Rs.9,000/-.  Government is not ready to heed the demand of the staff side to withdraw Contributory Pension Scheme and guarantee minimum pension (50% of the last pay drawn) to all under Contributory Pension Scheme.  The observations of the 7th CPC that - “almost the whole lot of Government employees appointed on or after 01-01-2004 are unhappy with the New Pension System. Government should take a call and look into their grievances” remains in paper.  Thus the social security of the employees is facing greatest threat from Government.

‘Tough time never last, but tough people do’

                   No doubt the entire working class along with Central Government employees are passing through a tough period.  There life and livelihood are under attack.  And at the same time resistance movement against the policy offensives are gaining momentum.  Entire Trade Unions (barring BMS) has organised three days “Maha Dharna” at New Delhi in which lakhs of workers participated.  BMS was also compelled to organise a separate protest programme against the retrogade policies of the Narendra Modi Government.  Central Government employees under the banner of Confederation conducted series of agitational programmes like Parliament March, One day strike, Mass dharna in front of Finance Minister’s Office, Human Chain, Burning of HRA Orders, District level dharnas, State level dharnas etc. demanding settlement of  21 point charter of demands submitted  to Government.  Coming days will witness more sectoral struggles and joint struggles leading to indefinite strike.

No alternative for struggle:

                   Thus the struggles of the Working Class which was hitherto defensive in nature, is becoming more and more offensive.  We have to intensify our struggle during 2018 for our survival.  Let us remember and tell our friends in the Central Govt. Employees movement who are waiting peacefully and endessly hoping for justice from NDA Government -

                   “Organise if you want real living wages, organise if you want to have your working hours reduced, organise if you desire better treatment from your superior officers, organise if you want that the authorities should consult and consider your opinion on all administrative measures affecting you.  Petitions, memorandums and supplications will count for nothing, so long as you do not organise yourselves in a manner to convice the Government that you will no longer stand nonsense.”

                   Let us march forward with full commitment and determination. 

                   Ultimate victory shall be ours.

If  it weren’t for the Union

Our union’s story is there to be seen,

We’ve won many victories and we’ve suffered defeats,

But as I turn through the pages and look back through time,

There’s one single question stands out in my mind -

Today we may prosper, today we live free,

But if it weren’t for the union, where would we be?

From it’s humble beginnings our union has grown,

So no working person need struggle alone.

But no gain that’s been made has been made without cost,

And together we’ll see that no gain’s ever lost;

Take a look at those countries where workers aren’t free-

If it weren’t for the union, where would we be?

Would you choose to go back, working twelve hours a day,

Would you choose to toil more and a pittance be paid?

Will you stand in the union against the new right,

or do you think on your own you can withstand their might?

The answer is written in our history,

If it weren’t for the union, where would we be?

They say we’ve got problems, and the unions they blame,

Well, Franco and Pinochet they said the same.

If our union they weaken, if our union they break,

Then where’s our defence from becoming enslaved?

So would you choose bondage above liberty?

And if it weren’t for the union, where would we be?

It’s our union, our union that defends our rights,

But our union is as strong as our will is to fight,

For the union is you and the union is me,

So stand up and stand by our union.

                                                 - Peter Hicks and Geoff Francis.

Year End Review-2017: Ministry of Communications : Important Achievements of Department of Posts

1.                  Implementation of Core Banking Solutions in the Department of Posts

          Overview:

•   The Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) was started in 1882 to facilitate small savings in the country. It operates as an agency of the Ministry of Finance and caters to the basic savings needs of the citizens.

•  All the 1.55 Lakh Post Offices in the country provide the basic banking products of the POSB. Of these 25,353 are departmental Post Offices which are manned by the regular government employees.

•  At the end of March 2017, there were35.62 Cr live accounts with a balance of Rs. 5,32,338 Crore and Savings certificates with an outstanding balance of Rs. 1,98,935 Crore

•  The Post Offices were operating on a standalone software which operated in a closed environment.

•  Many value added services like ATMs, inter branch banking, Internet and mobile banking, DBT etc were not available to the POSB customers

 Challenges faced:

•  Though an impressive customer base, the banking services were not upto industry standards.

•  As the complexity of services grew, it became difficult to monitor it on the old system.

•  Government schemes of DBT, financial inclusion and social security could not be serviced on the old software.

•  Modern payment systems like Debit cards, AEPS, APBS, Internet and mobile banking were not available.

•  Thus there was an urgent need for introduction of a Core Banking Solution (CBS) software in the POSB at par with the banks.

Initiative:

•  The project of CBS was conceived as a part of the overall IT modernization project 2012 of the DoP. The project aimed to introduce CBS in all the 25,353 departmental Post Offices.

•  The sheer size of the number of offices, the data to be migrated, connectivity and the tight timeline were the biggest challenges to be overcome.

•  The RFP for this was floated on 21.12.2010 and was awarded on 12.03.2012

•  Special teams were formed at the Directorate, Chennai and all the administrative units to take this up in a project mode.

•  The huge data was cleansed, verified, checked and rechecked to avoid any errors in migration to the new system.

•  Efforts were made to verify all the passbooks of the customers one at a time to verify their balances.

•  Infrastructure was upgraded wherever required to support the software.

•  Monitoring played a key role in the project. Regular reports, Video Conferences, meetings, field visits and web based monitoring  was used extensively to track the progress.

•  A big task was change management, internal communication and training of more than one lakh employees in the new software. This was managed through training in the Postal Training Centres, Work Place training Centres, Regional, Circle and Divisional Office levels. Officials were provided handholding by internal teams to make them feel comfortable.

• Frequent interactions were arranged for the employees, unions and officers to listen to their grievances and give them the ownership of the project.

• With this preparation in the background, the first Post Office of the country, Greams Road, Sub Post Office was migrated to CBS on 16.12.2013

Key results:

• 23,424 out of a total of 25,353 (92%) Post Offices are on the CBS platform as on 11/10/2017. Thus the POSB is the largest entity in the country on the CBS platform surpassing all the banks. This feat was achieved in less than four years.

• A total of 37.62 Cr accounts and 31.79 Crore savings certificates are on the CBS platform for anywhere banking as of 11/10/2017.

•  991 of the proposed 1000 ATMs are functional in the country. The ATMs are interoperable with other banks.

• Customers can access their CBS POSB account from anywhere in the country

• Greater visibility of transactions for better reporting and monitoring.

•  Internet and Mobile banking in closed environment is ready for roll out.

 Impacts:

• A significant step towards financial inclusion as all these CBS accounts can be used for MGNREGS, DBT, social security pensions and other programs of the Government of India. CBS can also be integrated with AEPS and APBS.

•  The data and CBS environment is ready for providing CBS based services even to the rural areas through handheld devices in 1.3 lakh Branch Post Offices.

• Introduction of operational hygiene and system at par with other banks.

•  Saving of time for the customers as the transactions are online and happen in real time.

• Provision of alternate banking channels like ATMs, Internet and Mobile banking to customers.

•  Services like RTGS, NEFT, POSB debit cards at POS as digital payments, full fledged internet and mobile banking can be provided with India Post Payment Bank (IPPB) in near future.

2.         Postal Life Insurance (PLI)

Overview:

• Postal Life Insurance (PLI), introduced in 1884, is one of the oldest life insurance schemes for benefit of Government and semi-Government employees.  Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI), introduced on March 24, 1995 on recommendations of Malhotra Committee, provides insurance cover to people residing in rural areas, especially weaker sections and women living in rural areas.

• There are six  life insurance plans, both in  Postal Life Insurance (PLI) and Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI), as given below:-

Sl No.	PLI	RPLI
1.	Whole Life Assurance (Suraksha)	Whole Life Assurance (Gram Suraksha)
2.	Endowment Assurance (Santosh)	Endowment Assurance (Gram Santosh)
3.	Convertible Whole Life Assurance (Suvidha)	Convertible Whole Life Assurance (Gram Suvidha)
4.	Anticipated Endowment Assurance (Sumangal)	Anticipated Endowment Assurance (Gram Sumangal)
5.	Joint Life Assurance (Yugal Suraksha)	10 Years RPLI (Gram Priya)
6.	Children Policy (Bal Jeevan Bima)	Children Policy (Bal Jeevan Bima)

• Low Premium and High Bonus is the unique feature of PLI and RPLI schemes. 

• At the  on March 31, 2017, there were 46.8 lakh PLI and 146.8 lakh RPLI policies across the country with aggregate sum assured of Rs 1,13,084.81 crores and 83,983.46 crores respectively.

• All 1.55 Lakh Post offices in the country (including  1.25 Branch Post Offices in rural areas) provide the  services of Postal Life Insurance (PLI) and Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI) .

Challenges faced :

• Competitive Scenario in Life Insurance Industry after liberalization of Insurance sector pursuant to setting up of IRDAI in 2000.

•  Limited clientele base of Postal Life Insurance.

•  Inadequate budgetary provisions for payment of incentive/commission to PLI/RPLI sales persons.

•   Lower maximum limit of sum assured in PLI and RPLI

Initiatives:

• The insurance industry in India has undergone transformational changes after liberalisation of the insurance sector in the year 2000, subsequent to setting up of the insurance regulator Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).  In such a competitive scenario, Postal Life Insurance (PLI) / Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI) has taken certain important strides to redefine itself as detailed below :

(i)  Increase in Sum Assured Limit of PLI / RPLI policies :

            The maximum limit of life insurance (sum assured) has been increased to Rs 50 lakhs in case of PLI and Rs 10 lakh in respect of RPLI policies.

(ii)  Technology Induction :

All the PLI / RPLI operations have been automated under the FSI project. Keeping in tune with any - time and any - where insurance, Core Insurance Solution (CIS) has successfully been inducted in 808 HOs and 25,464 SOs all over the country.  Under Core Insurance Solution, following facilities are available to insurants :

·  Development of web portal allows customers to view and carry out transactions related to their PLI policies on real time basis.

·  Convenient premium payment option to insurants and real time updation of premium payment in policies.

·  Generation of SMS alerts like premium due, premium payment, maturity due etc.

·  Anytime any-where servicing of PLI policies. All insurance policies will be stored electronically for easy retrieval and quicker customer service fulfilment from anywhere in the country. 

(iii)             Expansion of Clientele Base of PLI :

It has now been decided that benefits of PLI will no more be confined to Government and semi-Government employees, but will also be available to professionals such as Doctors, Engineers, Management Consultants, Charted Accountants, Architects, Lawyers, Bankers etc. and to employees   of listed companies of NSE (National Stock Exchange) and BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange). The decision has been taken to enlarge the cover of social security and bring maximum number of people under the protection of Postal Life Insurance (PLI).

(iv)  Launch of Sampoorna Bima Gram (SBG) Yojana:

•  Under Sampoorna Bima Gram (SBG) Yojana, at least one village (having a minimum of 100 households) has been identified in each of the revenue districts of the country, wherein endeavour will be made to cover all households of that identified village with a minimum of one RPLI (Rural Postal Life Insurance) policy each.  Coverage of all households in the identified Sampoorna Bima Gram village is the primary objective of this scheme.

•  It has also been decided to extend the coverage of SBG Yojana in Adarsh Grams adopted by Members of Parliament.  

•  This scheme will go a long way in increasing the insurance penetration in rural India as well as enhancing the financial inclusion of rural populace.

Key results:

(i)   Increased Business Performance of PLI and RPLI:

            There has been a consistent growth in the new business procured (premium income) and average sum assured in respect of PLI and RPLI policies:

Year	Premium Income (PLI) (in Rs Crores)	Average sum assured per policy (PLI) (in Rs lakhs)	Premium Income (RPLI) (in Rs Crores)	Average Sum Assured per policy (RPLI) (in Rs lakhs)
2016-17	7233.89	5.20	2120.02	1.83
2015-16	6657.03	4.86	2012.17	1.03
2014-15	5963.46	4.41	1983.95	0.97

(ii)        High Reversionary Bonus:

            PLI and RPLI policies have the unique distinction of paying high bonus and low premium as compared to other life insurers in India, as detailed below :

Year	PLI			RPLI
	Rate of Bonus for Rupees those sum assured per annum			Rate of Bonus for Rupees those sum assured per annum
	EA	WLA	AEA	EA	WLA	AEA
31.03.2015	58	85	53	50	65	47
31.03.2014	58	85	53	50	65	47
31.03.2013	58	85	53	50	65	47

The bonus rates given above are highest in Indian life insurance industry.               

(iii) Growth in Asset Under Management (AUM) /Investment Functions of PLI / RPLI Fund :

With effect from November 2009, management of PLI / RPLI funds is done in-house in accordance with IRDAI(Investment) Regulations, as amended from           time to time.  Details of AUM for last three years are furnished below:

As on Date	PLI Fund (in Rs Crores)	RPLI Fund (in Rs Crores)	Total AUM with Fund Managers (in Rs Crores)	Frozen Corpus (in Rs Crores)	Total Corpus (in Rs Crores)
31.03.2017	39,975.94	16,113.55	56,089.49	20,893.68	76,983.17
31.03.2016	31217.12	13566.25	44783.37	20,893.68	65,677.05
31.03.2015	24740.33	11337.57	36077.90	20,893.68	56,971.58

Impacts:

•  A significant step towards providing affordable life insurance coverage of Postal Life Insurance (PLI) to professionals such as Doctors, Engineers, Management Consultants, Charted Accountants, Architects, Lawyers, Bankers etc. and to employees of listed companies of NSE (National Stock Exchange) and BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange).

•   Sampoorna Bima Gram (SBG) linking with Saansad Adarsh Gram will result in increase in insurance penetration in India along with enhanced financial inclusion.

•  Improved operational and technological system in sale and after sales of PLI and RPLI under Core Insurance Solution

• Providing ease in policy purchase and after sales service to customers

•  Providing options for purchase of high value PLI/RPLI policy

•  Decentralization of PLI/RPLI service at the door step of customers at CPC  co-located at Head Post Offices.

3. Leveraging Post Offices as Passport Seva Kendra

Overview:

In view of greater mobility of Indian population in search of education, better work opportunities and other social commitments, passport has become a necessary document which everyone is requiring to obtain.  The Ministry of External Affairs has 38 Passport Offices and 93 Passport Seva Kendras operating across the country to provide these services to the applicants. The Ministry of External Affairs (Government of India) has provided 1.15 crore passports and related services during the calendar year 2016.

In view of the increased demand and inability of these 93 centres to cater to the needs of people located at distances, the Ministry of External Affairs in collaboration with Department of Posts has decided to leverage the post office network to help make available the passport related services in all the states by establishing Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSK). This joint venture started on 25.1.2017 at Metagalli Post Office, Mysuru, Karnataka and Dahod Head Post Office, Gujarat which were inaugurated by the Hon’ble Minister for Chemical and Fertilizers Shri Ananth Kumar and Gen (Dr.) V.K. Singh, Hon’ble Minister of State for External Affairs respectively.  

In the budget speech of the 2017, the Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley announced that:-

 “Our citizens in far flung regions of the country find it difficult to obtain passport and redress passport related grievances. We have decided to utilize Head Post Offices as the front office for rendering passport services”.

 Consequently, it was agreed to setup 235 Post Offices Passport Seva Kendra in various parts of country in a phased manner out of which 86 POPSKs will be set up in 1st phase and 149 POPSKs will be set up in 2ndphase.

 Initiatives:

 Notwithstanding the constraints and keeping in mind that POPSK will serve the citizens at large, Department of Posts has tried its best to move ahead for opening of POPSKs.  

 Key Results:   

Of the 86 POPSK agreed in 1st phase, 59 POPSKs are functioning in camp mode and remaining 27 are various phase of readiness. Around 3.75 lakh passport appointments have been processed through these POPSKs.

Impacts:

The POPSKs has brought convenience to the citizens by making passport services available in their vicinity through Post Offices and save them from travelling long distances for obtaining a Passport. This has also increased footfall in the Post Offices.

Challenges:

Taking this project forward, the challenges faced by the Department are:-

·  India Post is now expanding services to include India Post Payment Bank (IPPB) and regular postal operations like Post Office Savings Bank, counter operations, e-payment etc., there is a constraint of space as in most Post Offices space is based on the schedule of accommodation and to make 1000 sq. ft. for Passport Seva Kendras out of the existing space is sometimes difficult.

·  Identifying and making available Verifying Officer (VO) and Granting Officer (GO) in  every POPSK who are with a grade pay of Rs.4600/- is becoming difficult as there has been a ban on recruitment for a couple of years and many posts in that grade still remain unfilled.

·   To open a POPSK at every 50 kilometers

·    Training of postal officials identified as VO and GO on sovereign as well technical functions

·    Considering the response received by the POPSKs in camp mode, capacity will required to be enhanced.

·    Financials to be formalized.

·    Project to be institutionalized by way of an MoU between DoP and MEA.

·    Upgradation of POPSKs from camp mode to full-fledged Passport Seva Kendra

Despite the various challenges, in view of the fact that the Post Office Passport Seva Kendra will be meeting the needs of the citizens at large, the available buildings and spaces are being repaired, spruced up with a standardized look and feel in order to make them available as POPSKs, at the locations as agreed to by Ministry of External Affairs and Department of Posts. This would increase the footfall of customers at the post office and would create a win-win situation.

4.   CPMG, Ahmedabad: Success Story

(I) Collection of the Examination & Recruitment fee under e-Payment :

Overview:

In Gujarat Circle, e-Payment service was launched in the year 2006 and presently available at 1,341 post offices throughout Gujarat Circle. It is a smart option for the businesses and organizations to collect their bills or other payments on-line through post office network.

Challenges faced:

·  Network Connectivity

·   e-Payment Data remains non-transfer to central server.

·   NEFT/RTGS not available.

Initiatives:

• Gujarat Govt. had implemented e.Governance Project for recruitment of various cadres through online NIC, Gandhinagar.

• Gujarat Circle approached to Govt. of Gujarat for offering our e-Payment service      for collection of Exam fee.

• Collection of Examination / Recruitment fees of various State Govt. Departments / Organizations through Department Post Offices were offered for entire state.

• NIC, Gandhinagar created OJAS (Online Job Application System) Web Portal for this   purpose. With Co-ordination of NIC and State Government, MIS System has been developed       & created User-IDs and Password for all Departmental Post Offices as well as Circle, Regional    &  Divisional level Login for monitoring.

• On receipt of request from recruitment department, Biller ID of the respective Department is being created & suitable instructions with details of duration, last date of acceptance of fees, Amount of fees, particulars of Biller ID etc. are being  conveyed. Training in this regard for all staff also arranged up to all level.

• Rs.12/- (Rs.10/- + Service Tax, now GST) for each collection of fees collected under      ePayment from the candidate.

Key results:

Revenue Performance of the Project :

Period	No. of Transaction	DOP Revenue (Rs. In Cr.)
2015-2016	16,40,022	1.91
2016-2017	15,72,188	1.83
2017-2018 (Up to Sept-2017)	5,84,345	0.60

Ø    Revenue probability for the year 2017-2018 is Rs.2.00 Crore.

Ø    Other work under ePayment:

•  Tie up with Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) and Sabarmati Gas Company Limited (SGL) (Govt. Undertaking) for collection of Gas Bill amount under       e-Payment.

•   Initial GSPC bills collection started during 2012 -13 with a monthly average of 38,600  reached to 67,500 bills during 2016-17.

Ø    Collection of Admission / Course / Convocation form fee under e-Payment:     Tie up with the following Universities for collection Admission / Course fee  and Convocation form & fee :

1. Gujarat University :  Physical Application of  external Courses & Fee

2.  Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Open University  (BAOU) :            Admission fee for various Courses/ Semester

3.  Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, Surat:          Physical convocation forms and fees.       

Name of University	Revenue 2015-16 (in lakh)	Revenue 2016-17(in lakh)
Gujarat University, Ahmedabad	21.55	25.43
Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Open University, Ahmedabad	0.38	1.04
Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, Surat	6.00	4.38

Impacts:

 “Student’s Enrolments were increased up to three times in comparison of pre system, rather than post system of e-payment”

   -Prof. Shri M N Patel, Vice Chancellor, Guj. University

(II) Distribution of Prize Money to the Winners of Khel Mahakumbh through e-Money Order.:

Overview:

Ø    Khel-Mahakumbh is a prestigious annual sporting competition conducted every year since 2010 by State Government (Department of Sports Youth & Culture, Sports Authority of Gujarat (SAG), a registered trust of the Government is an implementing body).

Ø     The Prize money to the winner of Event were being distributed since 2010 through relevant Coach Manager/Institute/School etc. In the year, 2014 it was with ICICI Bank .

Challenges Faced:

·   In some cases prize amount is more than Rs.5,000/- under this situation we have no other option but to split the Amount in 2(Two) eMOs.

·   The Revision of present ceiling of Rs.5,000/- is Essential

Initiatives:

Ø    With the convincing approach for delivery of Prize Money in the hands of actual winner of the game, it was agreed to assign DOP from 2015.

Ø    Over 40 lakh participants across Gujarat are registered during 2016.

Ø    The competition is being organized from Village to State level, during January to March every year & Registration carried out from September to November of the preceding   year.

Ø    Total 27 Games covered under this mega sporting competition apart from Divyang in four categories by covering all age groups for all events. 

Ø    Every District Sports Officer is  sending  particulars of the winners along with  amount  directly to the Nodal Post Office i.e., Ahmedabad GPO maintaining continuous Serial No. in XML format for bulk booking of eMO.

Ø    Ahmedabad GPO is nominated as Nodal PO for booking of bulk eMOs under One to Many (OTM) option and is evolving monitoring cell for close and strict monitoring on division wise transmission of e.MOs up to updating of payment status by segregating & supplying division  wise information to the concerned division across the circle. Each eMO so taken into the system will be assigned a computer   generated PNR number. 

Ø    Co-ordination team of dedicated officers at GPO/CO level for monitoring purpose.

Key results:

Performance of the Project:

Year	No. of eMO	eMO Value (in cr.)	DOP Com. (in cr.)	Total (in cr.)
2015-16	1,67,316	Rs.29.74	Rs.1.48	Rs.31.22
2016-17	1,77,208	RS.30.75	Rs.1.53	Rs.32.29

Ø    Revenue probability for the year 2017-2018 is Rs.1.75 Crore.

Impacts:

1.                  Additional source for revenue generation for the Department

2.                  Distribution of prize money through representative / Banks diverted to India Post.

3.                  Prompt and Transparent distribution of Prize Money in the hands of actual winner.

(III)Distribution of Scholarship:

Overview:

Scholarship accounts were opened throughout Gujarat Circle. There were 2,64,621 accounts opened in different post offices of Gujarat Circle. These accounts were required to be verified before they can process the grant in these accounts. It was a very gigantic task. Gujarat CPC has referred the case to CEPT for getting the data dump so that the accounts can be verified electronically.

Challenges faced :

The data dump was not made available by the CEPT due to some technical reasons. It was suspected that all these accounts will be transferred to Bank if the task is not completed within short period of time. To enter the each and every account in Finacle and check it required lots of time and manpower. State Government had given only 10 days’ time for verification of accounts.

The second big challenge after verification of these accounts was that the fund in these accounts will be transferred electronically by the nodal banks using NEFT platform.  After taking up the matter with CEPT, it was cleared that NEFT platform is not yet made functional in Department of Post.

Initiatives:

In Gujarat CPC we have kept the data of interest statement shared by the CEPT. The data was processed and stored in SQL server. Hence the verification work of these accounts  was carried out electronically by matching the data of interest statement and the data provided by Government of Gujarat using the tool developed by Shri Miral Khamar, ASP CPC & Mukesh Parmar, System Admin, CPC Gujarat, total 252338 accounts were verified electronically.  The rest 12283 accounts could not be verified as the data dump was available upto March 2017. These accounts were verified by entering individual account number in finacle. All the Staff of CPC was utilized for the purpose.  Verification of the account was completed within three days by working in long shifts. To find solution of posting in these accounts, state Government authority was assured that as soon as we receive the data of account numbers and draft we will process the data within two days and detail report will be shared with them. Hence officials of State Government were convinced in the meeting for arranging to give the list of account numbers along with the amount to be deposited for scholarship with draft/cheque.

Key results:

After a constant follow up, drafts were collected from all the nodal banks proactively and the same was processed at Ahmedabad GPO and all the accounts for which grant was given were posted with the amounts.

Impacts:

The main impact of this task was that we could save around 2.60 lakhs account to go to silent. Moreover, since the money is deposited in the beneficiary’s accounts, it has provided with the opportunity to grab the business of accounts in these field.

5.  CPMG, Karnataka Circle: Success Story

OVERVIEW:

• Based on the requirement of the eCommerce companies and their end customers, Circle had experimented SAME DAY DELIVERY of eCommerce shipments through Speed Post in Bangalore.

• The system was aimed at booking at centralized office, dispatching of the consignments to the delivery post office and updating the status of delivery or otherwise on the same day of receipt.

• The system of SAME DAY DELIVERY of articles commenced in the month of December 2014 covering 12 PINCODEs in Bengaluru city. Separate booking unit for this facility commenced w.e.f 07.04.2015 in Bangalore GPO and has been extended to 94 pincodes as on date.

• The delivery area of 94 PINCODEs are covered by 39 Nodal Delivery Centre’s in Bangalore for delivery of the consignments.

• Shipments received from Amazon  (till morning 0900 hours) are booked and dispatched to the NDCs by 1300 hours and delivered in the afternoon & delivery status is updated on the same day by 2000 hours. This is a twelve hour process cycle.

• The booking and dispatch of the same day delivery consignments are attended at Bangalore GPO.

CHALLENGES:

• The Nodal Delivery centre’s were already handling the total Speed Post delivery volume in Bangalore.

•  The delivery staff were required to be trained for attempting and delivering the speed post consignments on the same day of receipt.

• Though the delivery was happening the updation of the delivery information was not taking place at the delivery post offices.

•  Maintenance of 98% delivery performance benchmark.

•  The varying sizes of the parcels received for delivery and its handling.

INITIATIVES:

• An exclusive team of GDS were poolled at different NDC’s for delivering Amazon same day delivery articles.

• These GDS were sensitized to attempt deliveries, calling the customers before attempting the delivery and updating the status at the end of the day.

• The importance of flow of information from the delivery end to the customer by way of updating the delivery status in the Speed Net was emphasised among the delivery staff and the officials handling Amazon SDD articles.

• Monitoring mechanism at Circle Office was devised and daily report from the Divisions were called for and a consolidated Daily Performance Review Report with observations of the CO if any were sent back to the Divisions for taking corrective actions wherever found necessary.

• During peak seasons when the volumes would be higher, circle monitoring team had direct interaction with the delivery units and delivery staff to ensure the issues at ground level was addressed to maintain the delivery performance at 98%.

• The Divisional heads were directed to take on the spot decisions for engaging private vehicles or divert the available resources to the needy offices depending upon the volume of mails received for delivery at the particular delivery centre.

• National Account facility was extended to Amazon with higher rebate.

KEY RESULTS:

• The performance under same day delivery system was constantly maintained at 98%.

• The daily average volume for Same Day Delivery increased from 100 articles to 2000 articles per day.

•  Total volume of SDD touched 7.5 Lakhs during the year 2016-17 and 3.2 lakh were delivered during 2017-18.

IMPACTS:

• The above arrangement has given a platform to the DOP to establish its strength for the SAME DAY DELIVERY which is one of the requirements of booming eCommerce industry.

• DOP secured market share of Same Day Delivery of the articles is established.

• The delivery of more than 11 Lakh articles in the city had helped to regain the positive impression about India Post delivery system. 

• The youth segment are covered by the eCommerce deliveries and this volume in the metro city had better impacts among the minds of the youth who desire the articles  to be delivered on the day of ordering itself.

• 3.5 Crore revenue is earned from SAME DAY DELIVERY.

6. O/o CPMG, West Bengal: Success Story

Overview:

A) E Commerce:

·  West Bengal Circle, with a large number of 9074 post offices spread across 1,03, 921 sq. km of area, has revamped its collection and delivery operations. Besides the traditional services, the Circle has adapted to meet the growing needs of corporate customer and general members of public. To cater to the demands of the market, the Circle has introduced parcel delivery for its corporate  E commerce clients.

·  The Circle has enrolled as many as 46 e-commerce companies both National as well as local players ..

·  Mechanized delivery of parcels and large Speed Post articles are being done at the doorstep of the addressee by using vehicles.

B) Savings Bank:

·   All the 9074 Post Offices in West Bengal Circle provide the basic banking products of the POSB. Of these 1,768 are departmental Post Offices which are manned by the regular government employees.

·    At the end of March 2017, there were 2.69 Cr live accounts and 70.27 Lakh certificates issued and discharged from which total Rs.567.66 Cr. revenue has been earned.

·   Out of 1768 post offices (H.O.+ S.O.) 1438 post offices migrated in CBS platform.

·   Customers were demanding modern industry level services which were not possible in the Sanchay Post environment.

Challenges faced:

E-Commerce:  

·  Out of total 9074 post offices in West Bengal Postal Circle, 1111 post offices are in urban area and 7963 post offices are in rural sector. Since most of the post offices are in rural sector, speedy delivery of articles to the members of public and the uploading of delivery information in the system is a challenging task.

·  As the customer behaviour has changed over the last decade, the buyers are more inclined to purchase products/ goods online and habituated to get prompt delivery at the doorstep.

·  The two main requirement from the E-Commerce companies were:

a)   over 90% delivery performance.

b)  uploading of delivery information in the system.

Savings Bank:

·  Though an impressive customer base, the Savings banking services were not upto industry standards.

·  Government schemes of DBT, financial inclusion and social security could not be serviced in all Post offices due to non-availability of new software.

Initiatives:

E-Commerce:

·  Mechanized delivery of parcels and large Speed Post articles i.e. a system of mechanized nodal delivery was introduced wherein parcels  are delivery at the  doorsteps of the addressee by using vehicles. This is functional at 35 nodal offices covering 117 Post Offices in Kolkata local TD area. Mechanized delivery is also available at Howrah, Hooghly, Siliguri, Port Blair and Gangtok. covering 24 post offices.

·  In order to monitor and maintain high delivery performance the Circle Monitoring Cell has been set up .

·  The Circle has also embarked upon providing one stop solution to its E-commerce customers by setting up E-commerce hub at Nabadiganta.which will function  as booking, processing and despatch point for all parcels.

·   Infrastructure was upgraded wherever required to support the software.

Savings bank:

· So far 1768 post offices out of 1438 has been rolled out under CBS platform and the CPC in the Circle office is fully functional.

·  64 interoperable ATMs have been installed in the Circle.

Key results:

E-Commerce:  

· The Circle has captured as many as 46 e-commerce companies out of which Amazon, Flipkart and Naaptol are big players. Amazon had started its business with DoP, WB Circle in January 2016 and Naaptol in September 2016. The e-commerce segment, having generated approx. Rs 4.5 crore in 2016-17, is poised to touch a double-digit figure by the next year, having delivered half a million units already in the last year. There has been remarkable growth in the EP/BP parcels which is evident from the table below:

Year	Traffic	Total revenue of e-commerce parcels (in crore of Rs.)
15-16	71946	0.51
16-17	375608	2.23
17-18 (up to September’17)	262193	1.2

·  The Circle has achieved a growth of 38% in 17-18 over 16-17 (up to September).

Savings Bank:

·  In F.Y. 2017-18, W.B.Circle achieved Rs.586.75 Cr. SBCC Revenue out of target of Rs 765 Cr.

·  At the end of September 2017, there were 14291654  SB accounts, 4601237 RD accounts, 4677066 MIS accounts, 2348909 TD accounts ,142398 PPF accounts and 636208 Sukanya Samriddhi accounts are in live.

Impact:

·  A significant step towards capturing the new era market to generate more revenue through e-Commerce business.

·  A significant step towards financial inclusion as all these CBS accounts can be used for MGNREGS, DBT, social security pensions and other programs of the Government of India. System can be integrated with AEPS and APBS.

·    Saving of time for the customers as the transactions are online and happen in real time.

·   Provision of alternate banking channels like ATMs, Internet and Mobile banking to customers.

Source : http://pib.nic.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1514567