Lok Sabha Question No. 1164 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-02-09
Subject: Service Provided by Department of Posts
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Subhash Ramrao Bhamre, Amol Ramsing Kolhe, Supriya Sadanand Sule, Sunil Dattatray Tatkare, DNV Senthilkumar. S., Kuldeep Rai Sharma

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF POSTS

## LOKSABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1164 TO BE ANSWERED ON 9 TH FEBRUARY, 2022

## SERVICE PROVIDED BY DEPARTMENT OF POSTS

1164.   DR. SUBHASH RAMRAO BHAMRE: DR. AMOL RAMSING KOLHE: SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE: SHRI SUNIL DATTATRAY TATKARE: DR. DNV SENTHILKUMAR. S.: SHRI KULDEEP RAI SHARMA:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  the  services  provided/being  provided  by  the  Department  of  Posts  in  the  country during the last three years along with the revenue earned/being earned therefrom service-wise and yearwise;
- (b) whether the Government has set any target for generation of revenue from postal service during the current financial year and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  the  manpower  and  infrastructural  facilities  including  post-masters  and  postmen  are adequate in the Department of Posts at present;
- (d) if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  if  not,  whether  the  Government  has  any  proposal  to  recruit  more number of personnel ;
- (e) whether  the  Government  has  started  providing  postal  services  by  using  latest  technology  for delivering mail and parcels to various parts of the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (f) whether income generated by the Department of Posts is declining during the last three years; and
- (g) if so, the corrective steps taken in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS (SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN)

- (a) Department of Posts provides following services:-
- (i) Mail & Parcel services
- (ii) Post Office Savings schemes
- (iii) Money Order and Indian Postal Order
- (iv) Postal Life Insurance & Rural Postal Life Insurance
- (v) Other services include Post Office Passport Seva Kendra, Aadhar Enrolments/ Updation facility, Railway  Passenger  Reservations  facility,  Common  Service  Centre,  sale  of  Sovereign  Gold Bonds, Utility bills payment etc.

Revenue earned from these services in the last three years is as follows:

| Services                                       |   2018-19 |   2019-20 |   2020-21 |
|------------------------------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| Mail and Parcel services                       |   3947.34 |   4056.26 |   2899.67 |
| Money Orders and Indian Postal Orders          |    248.76 |    224.25 |    193.89 |
| Post Office Savings schemes                    |   8600    |   8660.05 |   7055.79 |
| Postal and Rural Postal Life Insurance service |    789.87 |    768.4  |    933.87 |
| Other services and sundries                    |    686.46 |    617.64 |    483.15 |
| Total                                          |  14272.4  |  14326.6  |  11566.4  |

(Rs. in Crore)

(b) A  revenue  target  of  Rs.14213.34  Crore  has  been  set  for  Department  of  Posts  for  the  current financial year i.e. 2021-22.

(c) Adequate manpower and infrastructure facilities have been provided in the Post Offices.

(d) Following  manpower  is  available  in  Department  of  Posts  in  various  categories  including postmasters and postmen:

| Category of Post   |   Group 'A' |   Group 'B' Gazetted |   Group 'B' Non - Gazetted |   Group 'C' |
|--------------------|-------------|----------------------|----------------------------|-------------|
| Present            |         289 |                 2287 |                       3448 |      156066 |

Additional  infrastructure is provided as per requirement from time to time.  Department  is also leveraging  technology  to  increase  the  output  and  smooth  delivery  of  the  services.  Recruitment  is  a continuous process. Vacancies due to retirement, promotion to higher grade, deputation to other cadres, etc. are filled up as per relevant provisions.

(e) Department is committed to provide better customer services by leveraging the technology. More than 1.29 Lakh Branch Post Offices in the rural areas have been provided with Hand held Point of Sale devices for providing mail, parcel and banking services. A robust technological platform has also been provided in all the Departmental Post Offices and Mail Offices for booking, processing and delivery of the mail and parcels. Further, Department is also using Postman Mobile application to provide real time delivery  update  to  the  customers.  Additionally,  Department  also  facilitate  the  customers  through  SMS alerts regarding status of articles.

## (f) Revenue earned by the Department in the last 3 years is as follows:

| Financial Year                 |   2018-19 |   2019-20 |   2020-21 |
|--------------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| Revenue earned in Crore Rupees |   14272.4 |   14326.6 |   11566.4 |

(g) In  order  to  generate  additional  revenue,  Department  regularly  reviews  its  offerings  and  takes appropriate action to  offer  value additions to  make them  more customer and business centric. Further, new products and services are also introduced as per customer's requirements and market needs. In the recent past, Department  has also set up dedicated bulk  mail/ Parcel Processing centres and  established Nodal  delivery  centres  for  mechanisation  of  the  Parcel  delivery  and  increase  the  revenue  from  Parcel business.

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