Lok Sabha Question No. 1534 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-04
Subject: Post Offices in Remote Areas of J&K and NER
Ministry: COMMUNICATION
Asked by: Shri Azad Kirti Jha

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF POSTS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1534 TO BE ANSWERED ON 4 TH  DECEMBER, 2024

## POST OFFICES IN REMOTE AREAS OF J&K AND NER

## 1534.  SHRI AZAD KIRTI JHA:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether there are adequate number of post offices in remote areas such as those in North Eastern Region and Jammu & Kashmir;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government has taken cognizance of the fact that a single post office in Jammu & Kashmir has to cater to an area of 130.73 square km;
- (d) if so, the action taken to increase accessibility of post offices in remote areas of Jammu & Kashmir;
- (e) whether the Government has taken cognizance of the fact that a single post office in North Eastern region has to cater to an area of 60.51 sq km; and
- (f) if so, the action taken to increase accessibility of post offices in remote areas of North Eastern Region?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (DR. PEMMASANI CHANDRA SEKHAR)

(a) to (d) There  are  8755  post  offices  operational  in  North  Eastern  Region  and  1617  Post Offices operational in Jammu and Kashmir to provide postal, financial and insurance services. The number of Post offices in North Eastern Region and Jammu & Kashmir are given at Annexure.

There are 1617 Post Offices operational in Jammu and Kashmir covering 1,20,355 sq km total area of the state at an average 74.43 sq km per post office. Therefore, the radius of average area served by each post office is 4.86 km. Opening of new post offices is an ongoing process. New post offices are opened in needy and justified areas based on prescribed norms.  During the financial year 2023-24, 34 new post offices have been opened to increase accessibility of post offices in remote and unbanked areas of Jammu & Kashmir.

(e) & (f) There are 8755 Post Offices operational in North Eastern Region covering 2,62,190 sq km total area of the state at an average 29.95 sq km per post office. Therefore, the radius of average area served by each post office is 3.09 km.  As mentioned earlier, opening of new post offices is an ongoing process. New post offices are opened in needy and justified areas based on prescribed norms. During the financial year 2023-24, 1631 new post offices have been opened to increase accessibility of post offices in remote and unbanked areas of North Eastern Region.

## ANNEXURE

## Annexure referred to in reply to Part (b) for Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No.  1534 to be answered on 4 TH  December, 2024 regarding 'Post Offices in Remote Areas of J&K and NER'

|   Sl No. | Name of the State/UT                                                                                                | Total Number of Post Offices (Head Post Offices, Sub-Post Offices, Branch Post Offices)   |
|----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | North Eastern Region including Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim) | 8,755                                                                                     |
|        2 | Jammu and Kashmir                                                                                                   | 1,617                                                                                     |

***