Lok Sabha Question No. 200 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-11-16
Subject: Post Offices in Rural Areas
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: HARISH DWIVEDI, SADASHIV KISAN LOKHANDE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF POSTS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.200 TO BE ANSWERED ON 16 TH  NOVEMBER, 2016

## POST OFFICES IN RURAL AREAS

- †200.   SHRI HARISH CHANDRA ALIAS HARISH DWIVEDI: SHRI SADASHIV LOKHANDE:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  total  number  of  post  offices  functioning  in  the  country  separately  in  rural and urban areas along with the number of employees working in these post offices, State-wise;
- (b) whether  post-office  facilities  have  been  provided  in  all  the  villages  of  the country  including in Uttar Pradesh;
- (c) if so, the details thereof and if not, the total number of such villages where this facility is yet to be provided, State-wise;
- (d) whether the Government has formulated any scheme for opening post offices in all the villages; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof and the target fixed in this regard?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS & MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

- (a) State/UT-wise  number  of  post  offices  functioning  in  the  country  (as  on 31.03.2016)  in  rural  and  urban  areas  along  with  number  of  employees  working  in these post offices are at Annexure-I .
- (b) & (c) The  State/UT-wise  number  of  villages  with  post  office  and  number  of villages without post office of the country including Uttar Pradesh are at Annexure-II . The villages without post office are provided postal facilities through existing nearby post offices.
- (d) & (e) Opening of new post offices in rural areas by relocation and redeployment is an on-going activity. This is taken up under Plan Scheme  - 'Rural Business  &  Access  to  Postal  Network',  subject  to  fulfillment  of  certain  prescribed norms, availability of plan support and manpower. Department of Posts fixed target to open 400 new Branch Post Offices (BOs) in rural areas by redeployment & relocation during 12 th Plan Period under the plan scheme to increase access of postal services in  villages  of  the  country,  out  of  which  344  BOs  have  already  been  opened  during financial years 2012-13 to 2015-16 and target for opening of new BOs during current financial year 2016-17 is 97. In addition, a village where a BO is not justified as per norms, the postal services are offered through nearby BOs. The norms for opening of a BO are at Annexure-III

## ANNEXURE-I

State/UT-wise Number of Post Offices functioning in urban and rural areas of the country (as on 31.03.2016) and Number of Employees working in these Post Offices

| Sl. No.   | States/UTs           |   No. of Post Offices in urban areas |   No. of Post Offices in rural areas |   Total No. of Post Offices |   No. of Employees working in these Post Offices |
|-----------|----------------------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh       |                                  780 |                                 9542 |                       10322 |                                            22132 |
| 2         | Assam                |                                  381 |                                 3631 |                        4012 |                                            11036 |
| 3         | Bihar                |                                  464 |                                 8573 |                        9037 |                                            24840 |
| 4         | Chhattisgarh         |                                  269 |                                 2888 |                        3157 |                                             6381 |
| 5         | Delhi                |                                  470 |                                   84 |                         554 |                                             5050 |
| 6         | Gujarat              |                                  809 |                                 8117 |                        8926 |                                            20613 |
| 6.1       | Dadar & Nagar Haveli |                                    1 |                                   37 |                          38 |                                              105 |
| 6.2       | Damna & Diu          |                                    5 |                                   14 |                          19 |                                               43 |
| 7         | Haryana              |                                  369 |                                 2315 |                        2684 |                                             6408 |
| 8         | Himachal Pradesh     |                                  119 |                                 2666 |                        2785 |                                             8159 |
| 9         | Jammu & Kashmir      |                                  198 |                                 1503 |                        1701 |                                             3681 |
| 10        | Jharkhand            |                                  270 |                                 2839 |                        3109 |                                             8772 |
| 11        | Karnataka            |                                 1054 |                                 8609 |                        9663 |                                            26089 |
| 12        | Kerala               |                                  854 |                                 4203 |                        5057 |                                            18821 |
| 12.1      | Lakshdweep           |                                    6 |                                    4 |                          10 |                                               39 |
| 13        | Madhya Pradesh       |                                  811 |                                 7475 |                        8286 |                                            17603 |
| 14        | Maharashtra          |                                 1235 |                                11366 |                       12601 |                                            22951 |
| 14.1      | Goa                  |                                   54 |                                  204 |                         258 |                                              818 |
| 15        | North East:          |                                    0 |                                    0 |                           0 |                                                0 |
| 15.1      | Arunachal Pradesh    |                                   31 |                                  270 |                         301 |                                              665 |
| 15.2      | Meghalaya            |                                   32 |                                  459 |                         491 |                                             1217 |
| 15.3      | Mizoram              |                                   39 |                                  350 |                         389 |                                             1172 |
| 15.4      | Manipur              |                                   48 |                                  654 |                         702 |                                             2060 |
| 15.5      | Nagaland             |                                   31 |                                  299 |                         330 |                                             1001 |
| 15.6      | Tripura              |                                   56 |                                  654 |                         710 |                                             1753 |
| 16        | Odisha               |                                  596 |                                 7573 |                        8169 |                                            18809 |
| 17        | Punjab               |                                  410 |                                 3400 |                        3810 |                                             4380 |
| 17.1      | Chandigarh           |                                   42 |                                    9 |                          51 |                                              527 |
| 18        | Rajasthan            |                                  643 |                                 9675 |                       10318 |                                            19549 |
| 19        | Tamil Nadu           |                                 1817 |                                10218 |                       12035 |                                            32104 |
| 19.1      | Puducherry           |                                   39 |                                   57 |                          96 |                                              409 |
| 20        | Telangana            |                                  586 |                                 5249 |                        5835 |                                            13347 |
| 21        | Uttarakhand          |                                  209 |                                 2512 |                        2721 |                                             8062 |
| 22        | Uttar Pradesh        |                                 1933 |                                15729 |                       17662 |                                            45451 |
| 23        | West Bengal          |                                 1267 |                                 7495 |                        8762 |                                            15607 |
| 23.1      | Andaman&Nicobar      |                                   15 |                                   85 |                         100 |                                              164 |
| 23.2      | Sikkim               |                                   12 |                                  197 |                         209 |                                              448 |
|           | Total                |                                15955 |                               138955 |                      154910 |                                           370266 |

Contd…3/-

ANNEXURE-II State/UT-wise Number of Villages with and without Post Office in the country (as on 31-03-2016)

| Sl. No.   | States /UTs          | No. of Villages with Post Office   | No. of Villages without Post Office   | Total No. of Villages   |
|-----------|----------------------|------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|-------------------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh       | 9381                               | 13721                                 | 23102                   |
| 2         | Assam                | 5383                               | 20806                                 | 26189                   |
| 3         | Bihar                | 9712                               | 29796                                 | 39508                   |
| 4         | Chhattisgarh         | 2937                               | 17468                                 | 20405                   |
| 5         | Delhi                | 152                                | 48                                    | 200                     |
| 6         | Gujarat              | 8206                               | 9874                                  | 18080                   |
| 6.1       | Dadar & Nagar Haveli | 38                                 | 34                                    | 72                      |
| 6.2       | Daman & Diu          | 12                                 | 13                                    | 25                      |
| 7         | Haryana              | 2315                               | 4449                                  | 6764                    |
| 8         | Himachal Pradesh     | 4032                               | 13850                                 | 17882                   |
| 9         | Jammu & Kashmir      | 1526                               | 5142                                  | 6668                    |
| 10        | Jharkhand            | 2837                               | 26026                                 | 28863                   |
| 11        | Karnataka            | 9971                               | 18407                                 | 28378                   |
| 12        | Kerala               | 1635                               | 0                                     | 1635                    |
| 12.1      | Lakshdweep           | 10                                 | 0                                     | 10                      |
| 13        | Madhya Pradesh       | 8876                               | 46798                                 | 55674                   |
| 14        | Maharashtra          | 13176                              | 27830                                 | 41006                   |
| 14.1      | Goa                  | 215                                | 132                                   | 347                     |
| 15        | North East:          |                                    |                                       |                         |
| 15.1      | Arunachal Pradesh    | 254                                | 3611                                  | 3865                    |
| 15.2      | Meghalaya            | 664                                | 5215                                  | 5879                    |
| 15.3      | Mizoram              | 385                                | 453                                   | 838                     |
| 15.4      | Manipur              | 662                                | 1920                                  | 2582                    |
| 15.5      | Nagaland             | 312                                | 995                                   | 1307                    |
| 15.6      | Tripura              | 651                                | 415                                   | 1066                    |
| 16        | Odisha               | 7436                               | 40241                                 | 47677                   |
| 17        | Punjab               | 3400                               | 9181                                  | 12581                   |
| 17.1      | Chandigarh           | 9                                  | 14                                    | 23                      |
| 18        | Rajasthan            | 9720                               | 30098                                 | 39818                   |
| 19        | Tamil Nadu           | 11349                              | 26102                                 | 37451                   |
| 19.1      | Puducherry           | 64                                 | 382                                   | 446                     |
| 20        | Telangana            | 5368                               | 7839                                  | 13207                   |
| 21        | Uttarakhand          | 2518                               | 13243                                 | 15761                   |
| 22        | Uttar Pradesh        | 15596                              | 86101                                 | 101697                  |
| 23        | West Bengal          | 7494                               | 30426                                 | 37920                   |
| 23.1      | Andaman & Nicobar    | 85                                 | 416                                   | 501                     |
| 23.2      | Sikkim               | 197                                | 255                                   | 452                     |
|           | Total                | 146578                             | 491301                                | 637879                  |

## NORMS FOR OPENING OF EXTRA DEPARTMENTAL BRANCH POST OFFICES

1. Population:

3000  population  in  the  group  of  villages  (including  1000  population  in    the

- (a) In Normal Areas: proposed post office  village).
- (b) In Hill, Tribal, Desert and Inaccessible Areas: 500  pulation in an individual village or  1000 population in a group of villages.
2. Distance:
- (a) In Normal Areas: The minimum distance from the nearest existing post office should be 3 Kms.
- (b) In Hill, Tribal, Desert and Inaccessible Areas: The distance limit will be the same as above except that in Hill Areas, the minimum distance limit can be relaxed  by  the  Directorate  in  cases  where  such  relaxation  is  warranted  by special  circumstances  which  should  be  clearly  explained  while  submitting  a proposal.
3. Anticipated Income:
- (a) In Normal Areas: The minimum anticipated revenue will be 33 1/3% of the cost.
- (b) In  Hill,  Tribal,  Desert  and  Inaccessible  Areas: The  minimum anticipated income will be 15% of the cost.

It is further to be ensured that as a result of opening of a new post office, the loss in respect of the parent post office does not increase beyond the permissible limit nor does its income reduces below the minimum prescribed.

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