Lok Sabha Question No. 397 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-07-22
Subject: Modernisation of Postal DeliverySystem/Post Offices
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: BHEEMRAO BASWANTHRAO PATIL, GOPAL CHINAYYA SHETTY, CHARANJEET SINGH RORI, BHARAT SINGH, BOORA NARSAIAH GOUD, K. ASHOK KUMAR, ASHOK MAHADEORAO NETE, R.K. BHARATHI MOHAN

**GOVERNMENT OF INDIA**

**MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY**

**DEPARTMENT OF POSTS**

**LOK SABHA**

**UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.397**

**TO BE ANSWERED ON 22** **ND** **JULY, 2015**

**MODERNISATION OF POSTAL DELIVERY SYSTEM/POST OFFICES**

**397.	SHRI BHEEMRAO B. PATIL:**

**SHRI GOPAL SHETTY:**

**SHRI CHARANJEET SINGH RORI:**

**SHRI BHARAT SINGH:**

**DR. BOORA NARSAIAH GOUD:**

**SHRI K. ASHOK KUMAR:**

**SHRI ASHOK MAHADEORAO NETE:**

**SHRI BHARATHI MOHAN R.K.:**

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

(a) 	whether the Government has any research and development programme for the development and modernisation of postal delivery system/post offices;

(b) 	if so, the details thereof along with the manner in which it is likely to help citizens and Make in India programme;

(c) 	whether the Government proposes to equip all the post offices in the country with state-of-the-art technology and if so, the details thereof;

(d)	 whether the Government has modernized, computerized and upgraded most of the post offices in the country;

(e) 	if so, the details thereof, rural and urban wise, State/UT-wise during the last three years and the current year along with the funds sanctioned/spent there for; and

(f) 	the steps being taken to expedite the above said work in all the post offices in the country within a time frame period?

ANSWER

**THE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY**

**(SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)**

(a) & (b) Yes, Madam.  After making research and development, Department of Posts has launched several initiatives to improve the service delivery.

(i)	Project Arrow

(ii)	Mail Network Optimisation Project

(iii)	Automated Mail Processing Centres

(iv)	Track and Trace facility for Speed Post, Registered Mails and Parcels

(v)	Global Positioning System in Mail Motor Vehicles across the country

**Contd…2/-**

**-2-**

These initiatives have improved the processing and transmission of mail and delivery of mail by Postmen.   In Post Offices, which have been modernised under Project Arrow, the infrastructure and ambience at post offices have improved.  The quality of services of Post Offices are monitored through periodic video conferencing with Heads of Circles for regular and timely delivery of mails, apart from transaction time at Post Offices’ counters and settlement of customer’s complaints.  These initiatives are aimed at improving customer satisfaction.

(c)	Yes, Madam.

Post Offices are being equipped in the country with state-of-the-art technology by providing updated computer hardware and seamless software and peripherals for activities/transactions including banking, insurance and money remittances.  The Rural Information and Communication Technology (RICT) solutions will computerise all the Branch Offices in the country under India Post IT Project.

(d) 	Yes Madam,

(i)   So far 2,940 Post Offices have been modernised under Project Arrow.

(ii)  All the Departmental Post Offices in the country have been provided with Computers & peripherals.

(iii) Under the broad scope of Information Technology (IT) Modernisation Project the following activities are under way :-

- Network Integrator (NI):- Provisioning of Wide Area Network (WAN) for connecting all the Post offices, Mail Offices & Admin offices with the Data Center and Disaster Recovery Centre.
- Mail Operations Hardware (MOH):- Providing postman handheld devices & Hardware for Mail offices.  Across the country all the Departmental Postmen staff are going to be provided with handheld devices. This facilitates the senders of registered / parcel / speed post mails and money orders to access to the indiapost website to get the delivery status of these mails and money orders.
- Financial Services Integrator (FSI):- Core Banking Solutions for Post Office Savings Bank (POSB), ATM facility and Core Insurance Solution for Postal Life Insurance and Rural Postal Life Insurance (PLI & RPLI).  During this year 442 offices have been migrated to Core Banking Solution. Within the end of this financial year, there is a plan to cover the remaining 25,207 Post Offices under CBS (Core Banking Solution) Migration and there is a plan to install 1,000 ATMs by 31.12.2015.
- Core System Integrator (CSI):- Solutions relating to Mails, Counter transactions, Remittances, Human Resources (HR), Finance & Accounts (F&A), Customer Interaction etc. and Common Infrastructure / integration of various software solutions.  During the last financial year 2020 offices have been migrated to CBS and 11 ATMs have been installed.
- Rural Information and Communication Technology (RICT):- Providing Connectivity and Hardware to all Branch Offices (1,30,000 Rural Post Offices) along with software for integrating & managing the rural system / devices. The goal of this project is to provide a low power technology solution (ICT Device) to each Branch Postmaster (BPM) of rural, remote and hilly area to improve the level of services being offered to rural customers. The primary business goal of the rural ICT Project is to improve the quality of service of remote areas, add value to the services and achieve “financial inclusion” of unbanked rural population, while taking advantage of this opportunity to increase revenue traffic. The project shall increase the rural reach of the Department of Posts and enable the Branch Offices to increase traffic of all financial remittances, savings accounts, Rural Postal Life Insurance, and cash certificates; improve mail operation processes by allowing for automated booking and delivery of accountable articles; increase revenue using retail post business; provide third

**Contd….3/-**

**-3-**

party applications. The project will make the Post office the focal point of delivery for social security and employment guarantee schemes of Centre and State Government including disbursement of wages under MNREGS(Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme), Pension and scholarship, etc through Direct Benefit Transfer employing Biometric authentication of financial transactions.

- Data Centre Facilities (DCF):- Hosting the central servers at Primary Data Center & Management of Disaster Recovery Center.
- Change Management (CM):- Change Management for all employees and training on new software / devices.
- Financial inclusion:- The Department of Posts has applied to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for setting up Post Bank of India (Payments Bank).  It will facilitate all kinds of payments and extend the benefit of formal banking to unbanked population.

(e)  	The details of modernised, computerised and upgraded post offices in the country, rural and urban wise, State/UT-wise, during the last three years and current year, along with funds sanctioned / spent there for is **Annexed at ‘A’.**

(f)	 The Department has put in place a Programme Management Governance Structure which plays a key role in monitoring the IT Modernization Project approved by the Government. The Governance structure is four tiered with an apex inter-Ministerial Steering Committee to review, monitor and guide the progress of the Project.

A dedicated Project Management Unit (PMU) Division, headed by a Senior Administrative Grade (SAG) Officer and assisted by three Junior Administrative Grade (JAG) officers and their team has been constituted for day to day implementation and monitoring of the Project.

**Contd…4**

| **ANNEXURE-A**                                                                                                            |                        |                               |                               |                     |                     |                               |                               |                     |                     |                               |                               |                     |                     |                               |                               |                           |                           |                               |                               |                      |                      |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|---------------------|---------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|---------------------|---------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|---------------------|---------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|---------------------------|---------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|----------------------|----------------------|
| **Number of Post Offices Modernised, Computerised and Upgraded in the country -  Rural and Urban wise,  State / UT wise** |                        |                               |                               |                     |                     |                               |                               |                     |                     |                               |                               |                     |                     |                               |                               |                           |                           |                               |                               |                      |                      |
|                                                                                                                           |                        | Computerised                  | Computerised                  | Computerised        | Computerised        | Modernised                    | Modernised                    | Modernised          | Modernised          | Upgraded                      | Upgraded                      | Upgraded            | Upgraded            | Funds Sanctioned in Lakhs     | Funds Sanctioned in Lakhs     | Funds Sanctioned in Lakhs | Funds Sanctioned in Lakhs | Funds Spent in Lakhs          | Funds Spent in Lakhs          | Funds Spent in Lakhs | Funds Spent in Lakhs |
| S. No.                                                                                                                    | Name of State/UT       | from March 2012 to March 2015 | from March 2012 to March 2015 | During current Year | During current Year | from March 2012 to March 2015 | from March 2012 to March 2015 | During current Year | During current Year | from March 2012 to March 2015 | from March 2012 to March 2015 | During current Year | During current Year | from March 2012 to March 2015 | from March 2012 to March 2015 | During current Year       | During current Year       | from March 2012 to March 2015 | from March 2012 to March 2015 | During current Year  | During current Year  |
|                                                                                                                           | **Name of State**      | Urban                         | Rural                         | Urban               | Rural               | Urban                         | Rural                         | Urban               | Rural               | Urban                         | Rural                         | Urban               | Rural               | Urban                         | Rural                         | Urban                     | Rural                     | Urban                         | Rural                         | Urban                | Rural                |
| 1                                                                                                                         | Andhra Pradesh         | 64                            | 14                            | 1                   | 0                   | 23                            | 8                             | 4                   | 2                   | 15                            | 6                             | 1                   | 0                   | 274                           | 90                            | 46                        | 22                        | 274                           | 90                            | 5                    | 2                    |
| 2                                                                                                                         | Assam                  | 226                           | 400                           | 0                   | 0                   | 12                            | 8                             | 0                   | 0                   | 1                             | 3                             | 0                   | 0                   | 121                           | 80                            | 12                        | 6                         | 116                           | 64                            | 0                    | 0                    |
| 3                                                                                                                         | Arunachal Pradesh (NE) | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 7                             | 7                             | 3                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                         | 0                         | 38                            | 38                            | 0                    | 0                    |
| 4                                                                                                                         | Bihar                  | 9                             | 42                            | 0                   | 0                   | 23                            | 48                            | 14                  | 19                  | 0                             | 8                             | 1                   | 0                   | 24                            | 61                            | 11                        | 52                        | 24                            | 61                            | 2                    | 0                    |
| 5                                                                                                                         | Chhattisgarh           | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 22                            | 1                             | 5                   | 1                   | 0                             | 5                             | 0                   | 0                   | 162                           | 10                            | 29                        | 6                         | 155                           | 10                            | 0                    | 0                    |
| 6                                                                                                                         | Gujarat                | 1                             | 3                             | 0                   | 0                   | 22                            | 55                            | 11                  | 10                  | 20                            | 0                             | 3                   | 0                   | 551                           | 226                           | 122                       | 116                       | 684                           | 66                            | 0                    | 0                    |
| 7                                                                                                                         | Goa (Maharashtra)      | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 4                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 3                             | 1                             | 0                   | 0                   | 24                            | 2                             | 0                         | 0                         | 24                            | 13                            | 0                    | 0                    |
| 8                                                                                                                         | Haryana                | 2                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 25                            | 2                             | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                         | 0                         | 0                             | 0                             | 0                    | 0                    |
| 9                                                                                                                         | Himachal Pradesh       | 0                             | 14                            | 0                   | 0                   | 12                            | 25                            | 0                   | 0                   | 6                             | 12                            | 0                   | 0                   | 52                            | 46                            | 30                        | 24                        | 52                            | 46                            | 0                    | 0                    |
| 10                                                                                                                        | Jammu & Kashmir        | 47                            | 30                            | 0                   | 0                   | 47                            | 21                            | 2                   | 0                   | 0                             | 1                             | 2                   | 1                   | 22                            | 1                             | 2                         | 0                         | 20                            | 1                             | 2                    | 0                    |
| 11                                                                                                                        | Jharkhand              | 32                            | 6                             | 0                   | 0                   | 9                             | 9                             | 1                   | 3                   | 2                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 114                           | 74                            | 10                        | 30                        | 115                           | 75                            | 0                    | 0                    |
| 12                                                                                                                        | Karnataka              | 21                            | 23                            | 3                   | 3                   | 70                            | 12                            | 18                  | 4                   | 11                            | 1                             | 1                   | 2                   | 853                           | 0                             | 255                       | 0                         | 867                           | 0                             | 0                    | 0                    |
| 13                                                                                                                        | Kerala                 | 0                             | 1                             | 0                   | 0                   | 22                            | 30                            | 7                   | 13                  | 1                             | 5                             | 0                   | 0                   | 229                           | 307                           | 81                        | 151                       | 531                           | 0                             | 0                    | 0                    |
| 14                                                                                                                        | Madhya Pradesh         | 1                             | 5                             | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 3                             | 6                             | 0                   | 1                   | 5                             | 7                             | 5                         | 2                         | 5                             | 7                             | 0                    | 0                    |
| 15                                                                                                                        | Maharashtra            | 52                            | 43                            | 0                   | 0                   | 73                            | 15                            | 23                  | 3                   | 35                            | 8                             | 3                   | 0                   | 810                           | 162                           | 40                        | 10                        | 830                           | 20                            | 0                    | 0                    |
| 16                                                                                                                        | Meghalaya (NE)         | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 6                             | 11                            | 1                   | 1                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                         | 0                         | 33                            | 60                            | 0                    | 0                    |
| 17                                                                                                                        | Manipur (NE)           | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 7                             | 5                             | 2                   | 2                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                         | 0                         | 38                            | 27                            | 0                    | 0                    |
| 18                                                                                                                        | Mizoram (NE)           | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 3                             | 6                             | 0                   | 1                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                         | 0                         | 16                            | 33                            | 0                    | 0                    |
| 19                                                                                                                        | Nagaland (NE)          | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 2                             | 10                            | 1                   | 1                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                         | 0                         | 11                            | 55                            | 0                    | 0                    |
| 20                                                                                                                        | Odisha                 | 1                             | 4                             | 0                   | 0                   | 11                            | 36                            | 6                   | 9                   | 1                             | 9                             | 0                   | 0                   | 111                           | 362                           | 0                         | 36                        | 111                           | 368                           | 0                    | 0                    |
| 21                                                                                                                        | Punjab                 | 3                             | 4                             | 0                   | 0                   | 39                            | 11                            | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 2                             | 0                   | 0                   | 371                           | 102                           | 0                         | 0                         | 371                           | 102                           | 0                    | 0                    |
| 22                                                                                                                        | Rajasthan              | 106                           | 213                           | 0                   | 1                   | 142                           | 113                           | 6                   | 1                   | 19                            | 11                            | 0                   | 3                   | 68                            | 54                            | 1                         | 0                         | 68                            | 52                            | 0                    | 0                    |
| 23                                                                                                                        | Sikkim (WB)            | 12                            | 9                             | 0                   | 2                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 6                             | 5                             | 0                         | 0                         | 6                             | 5                             | 0                    | 0                    |
| 24                                                                                                                        | Tamil Nadu             | 124                           | 139                           | 0                   | 0                   | 43                            | 26                            | 2                   | 1                   | 222                           | 165                           | 7                   | 4                   | 463                           | 343                           | 29                        | 12                        | 453                           | 321                           | 0                    | 0                    |
| 25                                                                                                                        | Telangana              | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 30                            | 10                            | 3                   | 6                   | 18                            | 12                            | 2                   | 0                   | 342                           | 124                           | 39                        | 66                        | 342                           | 124                           | 3                    | 7                    |

| 26   | Tripura (NE)        | 0        | 0        | 0     | 0     | 0       | 0       | 0       | 0      | 14      | 11      | 2      | 2      | 0        | 0        | 0       | 0       | 76       | 60       | 0      | 0      |
|------|---------------------|----------|----------|-------|-------|---------|---------|---------|--------|---------|---------|--------|--------|----------|----------|---------|---------|----------|----------|--------|--------|
| 27   | Uttar Pradesh       | 666      | 429      | 0     | 1     | 258     | 297     | 4       | 3      | 9       | 2       | 0      | 1      | 413      | 119      | 10      | 14      | 41       | 9        | 0      | 0      |
| 28   | Uttarakhand         | 0        | 0        | 0     | 0     | 15      | 4       | 0       | 0      | 33      | 2       | 0      | 0      | 201      | 40       | 0       | 0       | 201      | 40       | 0      | 0      |
| 29   | West Bengal         | 0        | 4        | 0     | 0     | 0       | 0       | 0       | 0      | 0       | 0       | 0      | 0      | 442      | 1205     | 56      | 153     | 458      | 1250     | 18     | 49     |
|      | **Total of States** | **1367** | **1383** | **4** | **7** | **902** | **731** | **106** | **75** | **438** | **309** | **29** | **19** | **5658** | **3420** | **778** | **700** | **5960** | **2997** | **30** | **58** |

|                                    |                            | Computerised                  | Computerised                  | Computerised        | Computerised        | Modernised                    | Modernised                    | Modernised          | Modernised          | Upgraded                      | Upgraded                      | Upgraded            | Upgraded            | Funds Sanctioned in Lakhs     | Funds Sanctioned in Lakhs     | Funds Sanctioned in Lakhs   | Funds Sanctioned in Lakhs   | Funds Spent in Lakhs          | Funds Spent in Lakhs          | Funds Spent in Lakhs   | Funds Spent in Lakhs   |
|------------------------------------|----------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|---------------------|---------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|---------------------|---------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|---------------------|---------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|
| S. No.                             | Name of State/UT           | from March 2012 to March 2015 | from March 2012 to March 2015 | During current Year | During current Year | from March 2012 to March 2015 | from March 2012 to March 2015 | During current Year | During current Year | from March 2012 to March 2015 | from March 2012 to March 2015 | During current Year | During current Year | from March 2012 to March 2015 | from March 2012 to March 2015 | During current Year         | During current Year         | from March 2012 to March 2015 | from March 2012 to March 2015 | During current Year    | During current Year    |
|                                    | **Name of UT/NCR**         | Urban                         | Rural                         | Urban               | Rural               | Urban                         | Rural                         | Urban               | Rural               | Urban                         | Rural                         | Urban               | Rural               | Urban                         | Rural                         | Urban                       | Rural                       | Urban                         | Rural                         | Urban                  | Rural                  |
| 1                                  | Delhi (NCR)                | 132                           | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 132                           | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 3                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 37                            | 0                             | 0                           | 0                           | 19                            | 0                             | 0                      | 0                      |
| 2                                  | Andaman Nicobar(WB)        | 0                             | 2                             | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 95                            | 24                            | 2                           | 0                           | 85                            | 10                            | 0                      | 0                      |
| 3                                  | Chandigarh(PB)             | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 7                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 6                             | 0                             | 0                           | 0                           | 6                             | 0                             | 0                      | 0                      |
| 4                                  | Dadar & Nagar Haveli (Guj) | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                           | 0                           | 0                             | 0                             | 0                      | 0                      |
| 5                                  | Daman (Guj)                | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                           | 0                           | 0                             | 0                             | 0                      | 0                      |
| 6                                  | Diu (Guj)                  | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                           | 0                           | 0                             | 0                             | 0                      | 0                      |
| 7                                  | Lakshadweep (Kerala)       | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                           | 0                           | 0                             | 0                             | 0                      | 0                      |
| 8                                  | Mahe(Kerala)               | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                           | 0                           | 0                             | 0                             | 0                      | 0                      |
| 9                                  | Pondicherry (TN)           | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                   | 0                   | 0                             | 0                             | 0                           | 0                           | 0                             | 0                             | 0                      | 0                      |
|                                    | **Total of NCR/UT**        | **132**                       | **2**                         | **0**               | **0**               | **139**                       | **0**                         | **0**               | **0**               | **3**                         | **0**                         | **0**               | **0**               | **138**                       | **24**                        | **2**                       | **0**                       | **110**                       | **10**                        | **0**                  | **0**                  |
| **Grand Total of States & UT** |                            | **1499**                      | **1385**                      | **4**               | **7**               | **1041**                      | **731**                       | **106**             | **75**              | **441**                       | **309**                       | **29**              | **19**              | **5796**                      | **3444**                      | **780**                     | **700**                     | **6070**                      | **3007**                      | **30**                 | **58**                 |

The Department has spent funds for the Information Technology (IT) Modernisation Project in addition to the figures shown in the table above.

The expenditure made for the last three years for the IT Modernization Project:-

| Year    |   Expenditure (In Rs. in Crs) |
|---------|-------------------------------|
| 2012-13 |                         26.13 |
| 2013-14 |                        254.78 |
| 2014-15 |                         88.84 |

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