Lok Sabha Question No. 2649 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-10
Subject: Computerization of Post Offices
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: D.K. Suresh

## 2649. SHRI D.K.SURESH:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has undertaken any programme for the computerization and modernization of post offices in the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the  total  number  of  post  offices  modernized/  computerized  during  each  of  the  last  three  years, State/ UT-wise; and
- (d) the  funds  allocated  and  spent  in  this  regard  during  the  same  period  under  the  said  programme, State/ UT-wise?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS, EDUCATION AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE)

- (a) Yes Sir. The Department of Posts has modernized and computerized the Post Offices to provide better postal services in the country under the IT Modernization Project.
- (b) The details are as under: -
- i. The project includes providing Central Server based integrated, modular and scalable solution for all  the  operations of Department of Posts including Mails, Human Resource, Banking, Insurance and Finance and Accounts. It also involves creation of IT Infrastructure like Data Centre, Disaster Recovery Centre, setting  up  of  a  Wide  Area  Network  (WAN) and providing  solar  powered  and portable hand-held computing devices (Micro ATM compliant) to all the Branch Post Offices.
- ii. At present there are 25,409 Departmental Post Offices in the country and all are computerized. The Department  has  computerized  and  modernized  1,29,157  Branch  Post  offices  by  providing  SIM based  Handheld  Point  of  Sale  devices  for  carrying  out  postal  and  financial  transactions  using central  server  architecture  under  Digital  Advancement  of  Rural  Post  Office  for  A  New  India (DARPAN) Project.
- iii. Post Offices are providing Core Banking Services (CBS) to the Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) customers enabling them to transact their POSB accounts from any post office across the country.
- iv. 1000 ATMs have been installed,  with  at least  one  in  each  District  Headquarters  in  the  country. These ATMs are inter-operable with other banks .

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF POSTS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2649 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10 TH  MARCH, 2021

## COMPUTERIZATION OF POST OFFICES

- v. Internet  banking  services,  (e-banking)  have  been  made  available  for  POSB  customers  from 14.12.2018. Through the e-banking facility, POSB account holders can make deposits into Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) and the Post Office Public Provident Fund (PPF) accounts online from their POSB savings account.
- vi. The  POSB  customers  have  also  been  provided  with  the  facility  of  Mobile  Banking  from 15.10.2019.
- vii. Postal  Life  Insurance  (PLI)  services  are  being  provided  through  Core  Insurance  Solution  (CIS) which has been rolled out in all the Post offices and through this solution, the customers can make premium payment at any post office and has also enabled central processing centers to provide faster claim settlement and after-sales service.

(c) Computerization of all the Departmental Post Offices in the  country was completed in 2014-15. However, funds are regularly allotted to Postal Circles for procurement of computers and peripherals to replace the obsolete computer/hardware items as per requirement.

The  Postal  Circle  wise  details  of  Branch  Post  Offices  computerized/modernized  under  Digital Advancement of Rural Post Office for A New India (DARPAN) Project is annexed as Annexure-I.

- (d) i) During the Financial Year 2017-18, Rs. 20.56 Crore were spent centrally. The Postal Circle wise details  of  funds  allocated  and  spent  to  replace  the  obsolete  computer/hardware items in 2018-19 and 2019-20 are annexed as Annexure-II.

ii)  The  IT  Modernization  Project  has  been  implemented  centrally  by  the  Department.  The  total funds spent in the last three years is as under:-

| Financial Year   |   Funds allocated (in Crores) |   Funds utilized (in Crores) |
|------------------|-------------------------------|------------------------------|
| 2017-18          |                        435.08 |                       415.64 |
| 2018-19          |                        378.03 |                       375.32 |
| 2019-20          |                        396.81 |                       384.68 |

## Annexure-I

Annexure-I referred to in reply of Lok Sabha Un-starred Question No. 2649 to be answered on 10 th March, 2021 raised by Hon'ble Member  of  Parliament SHRI  D.  K.  SURESH  regarding 'Computerization of Post Offices'

| Sr. No.   | Name of Postal Circle   | Name of State / UT                               | Total No. of Rollout DARPAN Branch Post Offices   |
|-----------|-------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh          | Andhra Pradesh                                   | 8945                                              |
| 2         | Assam                   | Assam                                            | 3374                                              |
| 3         | Bihar                   | Bihar                                            | 7942                                              |
| 4         | Chhattisgarh            | Chhattisgarh                                     | 3040                                              |
| 5         | Delhi                   | Delhi                                            | 68                                                |
| 6         | Gujarat                 | Gujarat Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu | 7595                                              |
| 7         | Haryana                 | Haryana                                          | 2175                                              |
| 8         | Himachal Pradesh        | Himachal Pradesh                                 | 2314                                              |
| 9         | Jammu &Kashmir          | Jammu &Kashmir Ladakh                            | 1427                                              |
| 10        | Jharkhand               | Jharkhand                                        | 2715                                              |
| 11        | Karnataka               | Karnataka                                        | 7898                                              |
| 12        | Kerala                  | Kerala                                           | 3540                                              |
| 13        | Madhya Pradesh          | Madhya Pradesh                                   | 7216                                              |
| 14        | Maharashtra             | Maharashtra Goa                                  | 10573                                             |
|           |                         | Arunachal Pradesh                                |                                                   |
| 15        | North East              |                                                  | 2510                                              |
| 15        | North East              | Manipur                                          | 2510                                              |
| 15        | North East              | Meghalaya                                        | 2510                                              |
| 15        | North East              | Mizoram Nagaland                                 | 2510                                              |
| 15        | North East              | Tripura                                          | 2510                                              |
| 16        | Odisha                  | Odisha                                           | 7035                                              |
| 17        | Punjab                  | Punjab                                           | 3081                                              |
| 18        | Rajasthan               | Chandigarh Rajasthan                             | 8943                                              |
| 19        | Tamil Nadu              | Tamil Nadu Puducherry                            | 9211                                              |
| 20        | Telangana               | Telangana                                        | 4948                                              |
| 21        | Uttar Pradesh           | Uttar Pradesh                                    | 15034                                             |
| 22        | Uttarakhand             | Uttarakhand                                      | 2310                                              |
| 23        |                         | West Bengal                                      | 7263                                              |
| 23        |                         | Sikkim                                           | 7263                                              |
| 23        |                         |                                                  | 7263                                              |

Annexure-II referred to in reply of Lok Sabha Un-starred Question No. 2649 to be answered on 10 th March, 2021 raised by Hon'ble Member  of  Parliament SHRI  D.  K.  SURESH  regarding 'Computerization of Post Offices'

| Sr. No.   | Name of Postal Circle   | Name of State / UT                               | 2018-19                     | 2018-19                    | 2019-20                     | 2019-20                    |
|-----------|-------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------|----------------------------|-----------------------------|----------------------------|
| Sr. No.   | Name of Postal Circle   | Name of State / UT                               | Funds Allocated (in Crores) | Funds Utilised (in Crores) | Funds Allocated (in Crores) | Funds Utilised (in Crores) |
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh          | Andhra Pradesh                                   | -                           | -                          | 4.61                        | 4.61                       |
| 2         | Assam                   | Assam                                            | 1.64                        | 1.42                       | -                           | -                          |
| 3         | Bihar                   | Bihar                                            | 2.85                        | 2.84                       | 2.64                        | 2.64                       |
| 4         | Chhattisgarh            | Chhattisgarh                                     | 1.43                        | 1.43                       | -                           | -                          |
| 5         | Delhi                   | Delhi                                            | 4.42                        | 3.80                       | 0.88                        | 0.88                       |
| 6         | Gujarat                 | Gujarat Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu | 6.17                        | 6.17                       | -                           | -                          |
| 7         | Haryana                 | Haryana                                          | 0.85                        | 0.85                       | -                           | -                          |
| 8         | Himachal Pradesh        | Himachal Pradesh                                 | 0.91                        | 0.91                       | -                           | -                          |
| 9         | Jammu                   | Jammu &Kashmir                                   | 1.31                        | 1.30                       | -                           | -                          |
| 10        | &Kashmir Jharkhand      | Ladakh Jharkhand                                 | 0.33                        | 0.32                       | -                           | -                          |
| 11        | Karnataka               | Karnataka                                        | 0.35                        | 0.33                       | 5.00                        | 5.00                       |
| 12        | Kerala                  | Kerala                                           | 5.21                        | 5.21                       | -                           | -                          |
| 13        | Madhya Pradesh          | Madhya Pradesh                                   | 1.39                        | 1.39                       | 1.28                        | 1.28                       |
| 14        | Maharashtra             | Maharashtra Goa                                  | 0.47                        | 0.44                       | 4.47                        | 4.09                       |
| 15        | North East              | Arunachal Pradesh Manipur Meghalaya              | 1.10                        | 0.97                       | 3.49                        | 0.51                       |
| 15        | North East              | Mizoram                                          | 1.10                        | 0.97                       | 3.49                        | 0.51                       |
| 15        | North East              | Tripura                                          | 1.10                        | 0.97                       | 3.49                        | 0.51                       |
| 16        | Odisha                  | Odisha                                           | 4.79                        | 4.79                       | 4.09                        | 4.09                       |
| 17        | Punjab                  | Punjab Chandigarh                                | 2.15                        | 1.85                       | -                           | -                          |
| 18        | Rajasthan               | Rajasthan                                        | 2.21                        | 2.20                       | -                           | -                          |
| 19        | Tamil Nadu              | Tamil Nadu Puducherry                            | 9.24                        | 9.10                       | -                           | -                          |
| 20        | Telangana               | Telangana                                        | 0.52                        | 0.51                       | 2.91                        | 2.91                       |
| 21        | Uttar Pradesh           | Uttar Pradesh                                    | 8.27                        | 8.26                       | -                           | -                          |
| 22        | Uttarakhand             | Uttarakhand                                      | 1.22                        | 1.22                       | -                           | -                          |
| 23        | West Bengal             | West Bengal                                      | 13.51                       | 11.23                      | -                           | -                          |
| 23        | West Bengal             | Sikkim                                           | 13.51                       | 11.23                      | -                           | -                          |
| 23        | Total                   |                                                  | 70.34                       | 66.54                      | 29.37                       | 26.01                      |

************