Lok Sabha Question No. 258 (STARRED), answered on 2015-12-16
Subject: Opening and Upgradation of Post Offices
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: PARVESH SAHIB SINGH, RAMA KISHORE SINGH

## MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA DEPARTMENT OF POSTS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.258 TO BE ANSWERED ON 16 th  DECEMBER, 2015

## OPENING AND UPGRADATION OF POST OFFICES

## †*258. SHRI PARVESH SAHIB SINGH: SHRI RAMA KISHORE SINGH:

Will  the  Minister  of  COMMUNICATIONS  AND  INFORMATION  TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a) the number of post offices and sub-post offices across the country as on date, State-wise;
- (b) the targets set and achieved by the Government for opening of new post offices, sub-post offices during the Eleventh Five year Plan and proposed under Twelfth Five Year Plan, State-wise;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  reviewed  the  expansion  of  post  offices  and ongoing pending postal and telecommunication projects in various States;
- (d) if  so,  the  details and outcome thereof along with the corrective steps taken by the Government in this regard and the action taken to open the proposed post and subpost offices expeditiously; and
- (e) the  details  of  proposals  received  for  opening  and  upgradation  of  post  offices including the district level post offices in newly bifurcated States?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a) to (e) A Statement is laid on the table of the House.

STATEMENT TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE OF THE LOK SABHA IN RESPECT OF PARTS  (a)  TO  (e)  OF  LOK    SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  NO.258  FOR  16 th DECEMBER,  2015  REGARDING  'OPENING  AND  UPGRADATION  OF  POST OFFICES'.

- (a) Postal Circle-wise number of post offices including  sub-post offices functional in the country are at Annexure-I.
- (b) Postal  Circle-wise  details  of  targets  set  and  achievements  for  opening  of  new Branch Post Offices (BOs) and Sub-Post Offices (SOs) during Eleventh Five Year Plan are at Annexure-II. Department of Posts has decided to open 400 new BOs and 412 SOs during 12 th Five Year Plan under the Plan Scheme 'Rural Business & Access to Postal Network'. The targets for opening of post offices Postal Circle-wise during first four years of 12 th Five Year Plan are at Annexure-III. The Postal Circle-wise opening of remaining 56 BOs and 43 SOs for the financial year 2016-17 has not been decided so far as it will depend on allocation of budget in the annual plan.
- (c) & (d) Review of expansion of post offices is an on-going process. On review, if it  is  found  that  opening  of  new  post  offices  are  justified  in  particular  areas  as  per prescribed  norms  for  opening  of  new  post  offices,  post  offices  are  opened  in  those areas by relocation & redeployment under Plan Scheme.

As regards telecommunication projects, various schemes are implemented with the financial support from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) for expansion of telecom services in rural and remote areas, details are at Annexure-IV.

- (e) The  details  of  proposals  received  for  opening  and  upgradation  of  post  offices including the district level post offices in newly bifurcated States are at Annexure-V.

Contd……..3/-

## [Refers Part (a) of the Question]

## Postal Circle-wise and Category-wise Number of Post Offices functional in the country

| Sl. No.   | Name of the Postal Circles                                                                       |   Head Post Offices (HOs) |   Sub-Post Offices (SOs) |   Branch Post Offices (BOs) |   Total No. of Post Offices |
|-----------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------|--------------------------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh                                                                                   |                        59 |                     1533 |                        8783 |                       10375 |
| 1.1       | Telangana                                                                                        |                        36 |                      817 |                        4927 |                        5780 |
| 2         | Assam                                                                                            |                        19 |                      607 |                        3386 |                        4012 |
| 3         | Bihar                                                                                            |                        31 |                     1020 |                        8016 |                        9067 |
| 4         | Chhattisgarh                                                                                     |                        10 |                      337 |                        2800 |                        3147 |
| 5         | Delhi                                                                                            |                        12 |                      391 |                         148 |                         551 |
| 6         | Gujarat                                                                                          |                        34 |                     1294 |                        7598 |                        8926 |
| 6.1       | Dadra & Nagar Haveli                                                                             |                         0 |                        4 |                          34 |                          38 |
| 6.2       | Daman & Diu                                                                                      |                         0 |                        7 |                          12 |                          19 |
| 7         | Haryana                                                                                          |                        16 |                      481 |                        2180 |                        2677 |
| 8         | Himachal Pradesh                                                                                 |                        18 |                      448 |                        2316 |                        2782 |
| 9         | Jammu & Kashmir                                                                                  |                         9 |                      256 |                        1434 |                        1699 |
| 10        | Jharkhand                                                                                        |                        13 |                      443 |                        2643 |                        3099 |
| 11        | Karnataka                                                                                        |                        58 |                     1654 |                        7955 |                        9667 |
| 12        | Kerala                                                                                           |                        51 |                     1447 |                        3556 |                        5054 |
| 12.1      | Lakshadweep                                                                                      |                         0 |                        9 |                           1 |                          10 |
| 12.2      | Mahe                                                                                             |                         0 |                        1 |                           3 |                           4 |
| 13        | Madhya Pradesh                                                                                   |                        43 |                     1020 |                        7260 |                        8323 |
| 14        | Maharashtra                                                                                      |                        59 |                     2052 |                       10490 |                       12601 |
| 14.1      | Goa                                                                                              |                         2 |                      102 |                         154 |                         258 |
| 15        | North East [States include Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura] |                         9 |                      326 |                        2585 |                        2920 |
| 16        | Odisha                                                                                           |                        35 |                     1163 |                        6971 |                        8169 |
| 17        | Punjab                                                                                           |                        21 |                      700 |                        3086 |                        3807 |
| 17.1      | Chandigarh                                                                                       |                         1 |                       40 |                           8 |                          49 |
| 18        | Rajasthan                                                                                        |                        48 |                     1301 |                        8980 |                       10329 |
| 19        | Tamil Nadu                                                                                       |                        93 |                     2698 |                        9243 |                       12034 |
| 19.1      | Pondicherry                                                                                      |                         1 |                       34 |                          61 |                          96 |
| 20        | Uttarakhand                                                                                      |                        13 |                      380 |                        2330 |                        2723 |
| 21        | Uttar Pradesh                                                                                    |                        72 |                     2471 |                       15109 |                       17652 |
| 22        | West Bengal                                                                                      |                        45 |                     1667 |                        7047 |                        8759 |
| 22.1      | A & N Islands                                                                                    |                         1 |                       26 |                          73 |                         100 |
| 22.2      | Sikkim                                                                                           |                         1 |                       22 |                         186 |                         209 |
|           | Total                                                                                            |                       810 |                    24751 |                      129375 |                      154936 |

Contd…….4/-

## ANNEXURE-II [Refers Part (b) of the Question] Postal Circle-wise targets issued for opening of Branch Post Offices (BOs) and Sub-Post Offices (SOs) and its achievements during 11 th Five Year Plan Period

| Sl. No.   | Name of the Postal Circles   | BOs     | BOs          | SOs     | SOs          |
|-----------|------------------------------|---------|--------------|---------|--------------|
|           |                              | Targets | Achievements | Targets | Achievements |
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh               | 24      | 20           | 20      | 19           |
| 2         | Assam                        | 13      | 13           | 11      | 11           |
| 3         | Bihar                        | 13      | 13           | 13      | 11           |
| 4         | Chhattisgarh                 | 13      | 5            | 7       | 9            |
| 5         | Delhi                        | 6       | 4            | 11      | 11           |
| 6         | Gujarat                      | 13      | 12           | 15      | 14           |
| 7         | Haryana                      | 13      | 13           | 12      | 12           |
| 8         | Himachal Pradesh             | 11      | 11           | 9       | 9            |
| 9         | Jammu & Kashmir              | 10      | 8            | 6       | 4            |
| 10        | Jharkhand                    | 15      | 15           | 8       | 8            |
| 11        | Karnataka                    | 19      | 9            | 15      | 19           |
| 12        | Kerala                       | 9       | 14           | 8       | 10           |
| 13        | Madhya Pradesh               | 18      | 10           | 16      | 17           |
| 14        | Maharashtra                  | 24      | 14           | 20      | 17           |
| 15        | North East                   | 13      | 13           | 11      | 11           |
| 16        | Odisha                       | 16      | 15           | 12      | 13           |
| 17        | Punjab                       | 14      | 14           | 8       | 8            |
| 18        | Rajasthan                    | 23      | 21           | 17      | 24           |
| 19        | Tamil Nadu                   | 24      | 24           | 18      | 18           |
| 20        | Uttarakhand                  | 11      | 11           | 13      | 9            |
| 21        | Uttar Pradesh                | 24      | 20           | 14      | 23           |
| 22        | West Bengal                  | 14      | 13           | 11      | 9            |
|           | Total                        | 340     | 292          | 275     | 286          |

Contd……..5/-

## ANNEXURE-III

## [Refers Part (b) of the Question]

Postal Circle-wise Targets for opening of Branch Post Offices (BOs) and Sub-Post Offices (SOs) during financial years   2012-13 to  2015-16  under the Plan Scheme 'Rural Business & Access to Postal Network' of the 12 th Five Year Plan Period

| Sl. No.   | Name of the Circles   | Targets for opening of BOs and SOs from 2012-13 to 2015-16   | Targets for opening of BOs and SOs from 2012-13 to 2015-16   |
|-----------|-----------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------|
|           |                       | BOs                                                          | SOs                                                          |
|           |                       | Target                                                       | Target                                                       |
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh        | 25                                                           | 23                                                           |
| 2         | Assam                 | 23                                                           | 17                                                           |
| 3         | Bihar                 | 21                                                           | 16                                                           |
| 4         | Chhattisgarh          | 26                                                           | 15                                                           |
| 5         | Delhi                 | 8                                                            | 19                                                           |
| 6         | Gujarat               | 19                                                           | 18                                                           |
| 7         | Haryana               | 17                                                           | 18                                                           |
| 8         | Himachal Pradesh      | 13                                                           | 8                                                            |
| 9         | Jammu & Kashmir       | 10                                                           | 10                                                           |
| 10        | Jharkhand             | 17                                                           | 14                                                           |
| 11        | Karnataka             | 19                                                           | 18                                                           |
| 12        | Kerala                | 9                                                            | 12                                                           |
| 13        | Madhya Pradesh        | 18                                                           | 16                                                           |
| 14        | Maharashtra           | 20                                                           | 19                                                           |
| 15        | North East            | 32                                                           | 25                                                           |
| 16        | Odisha                | 18                                                           | 16                                                           |
| 17        | Punjab                | 15                                                           | 15                                                           |
| 18        | Rajasthan             | 18                                                           | 17                                                           |
| 19        | Tamil Nadu            | 19                                                           | 20                                                           |
| 20        | Uttarakhand           | 10                                                           | 8                                                            |
| 21        | Uttar Pradesh         | 22                                                           | 24                                                           |
| 22        | West Bengal           | 12                                                           | 12                                                           |
|           | Total                 | 391                                                          | 360                                                          |

## Contd……..6/-

## Details of schemes being implemented by the Department of Telecommunications for expansion of telecom services in rural and remote areas

- (i) Bharat  Net/  National  Optical  Fibre  Network  (NOFN)  was  planned  in  2011  to connect  all  2,50,000  Gram  Panchayats  in  the  country  through  optical  fibre  utilizing existing fibers of Public Sector Undertaking viz. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Rail  Tel  and  Power  Grid  Corporation  of  India  Limited  (PGCIL)  (and  of  any  desirous private operator) and  laying incremental  fibre wherever  necessary  for  providing broadband connectivity to all Gram Panchayats. As on 30.11.2015, 1,03,643 km. of duct and 74,994 km of optical fibre  cable covering 32,049 Gram Panchayats have been laid.
- (iii) On 10.09.2014, the Government approved a proposal to implement a Comprehensive  Telecom  Development  Plan  for  North-Eastern  Region  (NER).  The project envisages to provide mobile coverage to 8621 identified uncovered villages by installation  of  about  6673  mobile  towers,  installation  of  321  mobile  tower  sites  along National  Highways  and  strengthening  of  transmission  network  in  the  NER.  The estimated  cost  of  implementation  is  Rs.  5336.18  crore.  The  Project  would  be  funded from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF). State-wise details are as under:
- (iii) 2199  mobile  towers  are  being  set  up  in  Left  Wing  Extremism  (LWE)  affected States with a total estimated cost of Rs.3567.58 crore,  State-wise break-up is as under:

| Sl. No.   | States            |   No. of villages proposed to be covered |   No. of Towers proposed for uncovered villages |   No. of Towers proposed along National Highways |
|-----------|-------------------|------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|
| 1         | Arunachal Pradesh |                                     2805 |                                            1893 |                                              149 |
| 2         | Assam             |                                     2503 |                                            1874 |                                               33 |
| 3         | Manipur           |                                      528 |                                             384 |                                               53 |
| 4         | Meghalaya         |                                     2374 |                                            2162 |                                               11 |
| 5         | Mizoram           |                                      252 |                                             227 |                                               19 |
| 6         | Nagaland          |                                      134 |                                             112 |                                               48 |
| 7         | Sikkim            |                                       23 |                                              19 |                                                1 |
| 8         | Tripura           |                                        2 |                                               2 |                                                7 |
|           | Total             |                                     8621 |                                            6673 |                                              321 |

| Sl. No.   | States         |   No. of total locations identified by Ministry of Home Affairs |
|-----------|----------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh |                                                              54 |
| 2         | Bihar          |                                                             184 |
| 3         | Chhattisgarh   |                                                             497 |
| 4         | Jharkhand      |                                                             782 |
| 5         | Maharashtra    |                                                              60 |
| 6         | Madhya Pradesh |                                                              22 |
| 7         | Odisha         |                                                             253 |
| 8         | Telangana      |                                                             173 |
| 9         | Uttar Pradesh  |                                                              78 |
| 10        | West Bengal    |                                                              96 |
|           | Total          |                                                            2199 |

1134 sites are radiating as on 30.11.2015.

## ANNEXURE-V [Refers Part (e) of the Question]

Details  of  proposals  received  for  opening  and  upgradation  of  post  offices including the district level post offices in newly bifurcated Andhra Pradesh and Telangana States

| Sl. No.   | Name of the States   |        | Locations                             | Category                                                      |
|-----------|----------------------|--------|---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh       | (i)    | Podili, Prakasam                      | Upgradation of Sub-Post Office to District level Post Office  |
|           |                      | (ii)   | Ram Nagar, Ongle                      | Upgradation of SO from Non-delivery to Delivery SO            |
|           |                      | (iii)  | Yedlavanipalem, Chilkalapudi          | Opening of new BO                                             |
|           |                      | (iv)   | Perecherla, Guntur                    | Upgradation of SO from Non-delivery to Delivery SO            |
|           |                      | (v)    | Lathambavi, Narsaraopet               | Opening of new BO                                             |
|           |                      | (vi)   | Nellatur, Nellore                     | Upgradation of SO from Non-delivery to Delivery SO            |
|           |                      | (vii)  | Kamalanabhapuram, Visakhapatnam       | Opening of new BO                                             |
|           |                      | (viii) | Bharishingapuram, Srikakulam          | Upgradation of BO into SO                                     |
|           |                      | (ix)   | B.N.Kandriga , Tirupathi              | Upgradation of BO into SO                                     |
|           |                      | (x)    | Peepal Groove School, Sodam, Chittoor | Opening of new BO                                             |
| 2         | Telangana            | (xi)   | Begumpet, Hyderabad                   | Upgradation of Sub-Post Office to District level Post Office. |
|           |                      | (xii)  | Uppalachelaka, Khammam                | Opening of BO                                                 |

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