Lok Sabha Question No. 575 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-02-05
Subject: Opening of Post Offices
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Heena Vijaykumar Gavit, Shyam Yadav Singh, Ganesan Selvam, Rebati Tripura, Dhanush M Kumar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF POSTS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 575 TO BE ANSWERED ON 5 TH  FEBRUARY, 2020

## OPENING OF POST OFFICES

## 575. DR. HEENA GAVIT:

SHRI SHYAM SINGH YADAV:

SHRI SELVAM G.:

SHRI REBATI TRIPURA:

SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has laid down norms for the opening up of new post offices and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether new post offices are opened through  redeployment of posts and relocation of post office, if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
- (c) the number of new branch post offices opened during each of the last three years, State/UTwise, including Tripura and Uttar Pradesh;
- (d) whether the Government has received requests from States to open new post offices in rural and under developed areas, if so, the details thereof and the action taken by the Government in this regard;
- (e) the quantum of revenue earned by post offices during the said period;
- (f) whether the Government has installed ATM machines/core banking solutions/internet kiosks with net banking facilities for the post office saving bank account holders in rural and backward areas of the country especially in Tripura and Uttar Pradesh, if so, the details thereof; and
- (g) the other steps taken by the Government to attract people residing in rural areas to invest in post office small saving schemes?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS, HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE)

- (a) Yes,  Sir.  The  Government  has  laid  down      norms  of  distance,  population  and  anticipated income for opening of new post offices. The details are at Annexure-I.

(b) Yes, Sir. As an ongoing process, new Post offices are opened through redeployment of posts and relocation of post offices to increase access to   postal network in needy and justified areas, based on norms, under the scheme- 'Rural Business & Access to Postal Network'. During the last three years,  a  total  of  419  Post  Offices  were  opened  by  redeployment  of  posts  and  relocation  of  Post Offices, in the country.

(c) A total of 1986 new Branch Post offices were opened during the last three years, including 3 in Tripura and 12 in Uttar Pradesh. State/ UT-wise details of new Branch Post Offices opened are at Annexure-II .

(d) No Sir, no requests have been received from State Governments to open new post offices in rural and under-developed areas.

(e)  The year wise  revenue earned by Post Offices during  the last three years is as under-

| Year    |   Total Revenue (Rupees In crores) |
|---------|------------------------------------|
| 2016-17 |                            11511   |
| 2017-18 |                            12832.8 |
| 2018-19 |                            13195.7 |

(f) Yes, Sir, The Government has installed 997 Automated Teller Machines (ATMs),of which, 3 are in Tripura and 89 in Uttar Pradesh. Core Banking services are provided   through   137606 Post Offices in rural and backward area of the country of which, 583 are in Tripura and 15536 in Uttar Pradesh. The concept of internet kiosk has not been implemented in Post Offices.

(g) The Government has organized seminars/Melas /Road shows including dedicated campaign name 'Balika Shakti' for popularizing Sukanya Samriddhi Accounts as an outreach programme to attract people of rural areas to invest in post offices. In addition, India Post Payment Bank has been established  in  all  the  Post  Offices,  to  provide  for  value  added  services  for  Saving  Bank  Account holders, such as Sweep in and Sweep out for withdrawal and deposit of funds in their Saving Bank Account and transferring fund of selected small  Saving schemes such as Recurring deposit, Public Provident Fund, Sukanya Samradhi Account and loan against Recurring deposits.

## Annexure referred to in Part(a) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 575 for Answer on 05.02.2020

## NORMS FOR OPENING OF NEW POST OFFICES

1. Norms for opening of Branch Post Offices (BOs):
2. 1.1 Population:
3. (a) In Normal Areas:

3000 population in the group of villages to be served by the proposed post office (including 1000 population in the proposed post office village).

- (b) In Hill, Tribal, Desert and Inaccessible Areas:

500 population in the individual village and 1000 population in the group of villages.

- 1.2 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. However, in Hill Areas, the minimum distance limit can be relaxed by the Postal Directorate in cases where such relaxation is warranted by special circumstances which should be clearly explained while submitting a proposal.
- 1.3 Anticipated Income:
- (a) In Normal Areas: The minimum anticipated revenue will be 33.33 % of the cost.
- (b) In Hill, Tribal, Desert and Inaccessible Areas: The minimum anticipated income will be 15% of the cost.
2. Norms for upgrading/ opening of Departmental Sub Offices (SOs):
- (a) In Rural Areas: The minimum work load of the Branch Post Office proposed to be upgraded, should be five hours per day. The permissible limit of annual loss is Rs.2400/- in normal rural areas and Rs.4800/- in hill and tribal areas.
- (b) In Urban Areas: In urban areas, the post office should initially be self-supporting and at the time of the first annual review, it should show a 5% profit to be eligible for further retention. The  minimum  distance  between  two    post  offices  should  be  1.5  Km.  in  cities  with  a population of 20 lakhs and above and 2 Km. in other urban areas.
- No two delivery offices, however, should be closer than 5 Kms. from each other. Delivery Post Office in urban areas should have a minimum of 7 Postmen's beats.

## 3. Norms for opening of Head Post Offices

Head Post Offices (HOs) are district level offices and the need/ justification for new HOs arises only occasionally.  An  HO  is  opened  by  conversion  of  a  sub-post  office  into  head  post  office  or  by bifurcation of an existing HO. The norms prescribed are:

- (i) Each district should have a head post office provided a minimum of 20 sub-post offices can be attached  to  it.  In  the  case  of  backward  areas  or  places  where  there  will  be  a  definite improvement in financing sub-post offices/ GDS post offices, lower standard may be adopted, subject to the approval of the Postal Directorate .
- (ii) If there is no HO in a district, opening of HO can be considered, if at least 20 SOs in the same district can be attached with advantage, to the proposed HO irrespective of the fact whether parent HO has 60 SOs or not. It has, however, to be ensured that such upgradation does not bring the number of SOs in account with residuary HO below 20.
- (iii) An existing HO should be bifurcated, if the number of sub-offices attached   to it exceeds 60. It should however, be ensured that as a result of the change neither the new nor old HO has less than 20 sub-offices attached to it.

## Annexure referred to in Part(c) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No.575 for Answer on 05.02.2020

| Circle wise number of new Branch Post Offices opened during the last three years   | Circle wise number of new Branch Post Offices opened during the last three years   | Circle wise number of new Branch Post Offices opened during the last three years   | Circle wise number of new Branch Post Offices opened during the last three years   | Circle wise number of new Branch Post Offices opened during the last three years   | Circle wise number of new Branch Post Offices opened during the last three years   |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Sl. No.                                                                            | Name of Circles                                                                    | Number of new Branch Post Offices opened during the years from 2016-17 to 2018-19  | Number of new Branch Post Offices opened during the years from 2016-17 to 2018-19  | Number of new Branch Post Offices opened during the years from 2016-17 to 2018-19  | Total                                                                              |
|                                                                                    |                                                                                    | 2016-17                                                                            | 2017-18                                                                            | 2018-19                                                                            |                                                                                    |
| 1                                                                                  | Andhra Pradesh                                                                     | 6                                                                                  | 102                                                                                | 0                                                                                  | 108*                                                                               |
| 2                                                                                  | Assam                                                                              | 2                                                                                  | 0                                                                                  | 0                                                                                  | 2                                                                                  |
| 3                                                                                  | Bihar                                                                              | 5                                                                                  | 38                                                                                 | 0                                                                                  | 43*                                                                                |
| 4                                                                                  | Chhattisgarh                                                                       | 6                                                                                  | 24                                                                                 | 717                                                                                | 747*                                                                               |
| 5                                                                                  | Delhi                                                                              | 0                                                                                  | 0                                                                                  | 0                                                                                  | 0                                                                                  |
| 6                                                                                  | Gujarat                                                                            | 4                                                                                  | 5                                                                                  | 2                                                                                  | 11                                                                                 |
| 7                                                                                  | Haryana                                                                            | 4                                                                                  | 4                                                                                  | 1                                                                                  | 9                                                                                  |
| 8                                                                                  | Himachal Pradesh                                                                   | 4                                                                                  | 4                                                                                  | 5                                                                                  | 13                                                                                 |
| 9                                                                                  | Jammu &Kashmir                                                                     | 2                                                                                  | 1                                                                                  | 1                                                                                  | 4                                                                                  |
| 10                                                                                 | Jharkhand                                                                          | 5                                                                                  | 24                                                                                 | 636                                                                                | 665*                                                                               |
| 11                                                                                 | Karnataka                                                                          | 4                                                                                  | 4                                                                                  | 1                                                                                  | 9                                                                                  |
| 12                                                                                 | Kerala                                                                             | 0                                                                                  | 0                                                                                  | 0                                                                                  | 0                                                                                  |
| 13                                                                                 | Madhya Pradesh                                                                     | 5                                                                                  | 6                                                                                  | 1                                                                                  | 12                                                                                 |
| 14                                                                                 | Maharashtra                                                                        | 5                                                                                  | 16                                                                                 | 132                                                                                | 153*                                                                               |
| 15                                                                                 | North East                                                                         | 7                                                                                  | 2                                                                                  | 1                                                                                  | 10                                                                                 |
| 16                                                                                 | Orissa                                                                             | 6                                                                                  | 9                                                                                  | 39                                                                                 | 54*                                                                                |
| 17                                                                                 | Punjab                                                                             | 5                                                                                  | 5                                                                                  | 1                                                                                  | 11                                                                                 |
| 18                                                                                 | Rajasthan                                                                          | 4                                                                                  | 9                                                                                  | 2                                                                                  | 15                                                                                 |
| 19                                                                                 | Tamilnadu                                                                          | 4                                                                                  | 5                                                                                  | 1                                                                                  | 10                                                                                 |
| 20                                                                                 | Telangana                                                                          | 3                                                                                  | 73                                                                                 | 0                                                                                  | 76*                                                                                |
| 21                                                                                 | Uttarakhand                                                                        | 9                                                                                  | 3                                                                                  | 1                                                                                  | 13                                                                                 |
| 22                                                                                 | Uttar Pradesh                                                                      | 2                                                                                  | 8                                                                                  | 2                                                                                  | 12                                                                                 |
| 23                                                                                 | West Bengal                                                                        | 3                                                                                  | 5                                                                                  | 1                                                                                  | 9                                                                                  |
|                                                                                    | Sikkim                                                                             | 0                                                                                  | 0                                                                                  | 0                                                                                  | 0                                                                                  |
|                                                                                    | Total                                                                              | 95                                                                                 | 347                                                                                | 1544                                                                               | 1986*                                                                              |

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