Wednesday 13 April 2011

India Post has an approved Plan Project with an outlay of R.1877.2 Crore for IT Modernization Project. The project has following components: i. Development of integrated modular scalable applications for mail, banking, Postal Life Insurance advanced financial services and ERP solutions for accounts and HR Operations of the Department. ii. Provision of ICT devices in rural post offices with required applications for performing postal, banking, insurance, retail operations. iii. Establishment of IT infrastructure of Data Centre and Disaster Recovery Centre and networking of all Post Offices including Branch Post Offices in the rural areas. iv. Provision for training, change management, capacity building of the employees of the department along with setting up of the Project Management units of Department, Circle, region and Division levels for smooth and timely implementation of the project (a) 100 Days Agenda finalized on January 01, 2011 included selection of vendors for the following solutions:- 1. Customer Interaction Management Solution 2. Mail Operation Solution 3. Human Resource Management Solution and Finance and Accounts Solution 4. Banking and Postal Life Insurance Solution 5. Change Management 6. Establishment of Data Centre 7. Rural ICT Service Integrator 8. Network Integrator (b) Status of compliance (i) Customer Interaction Management Solution Objectives: To enable 24x7 transactions for customers through web portal, call centres and ATMs. Status: Vendors have been shortlisted. RFP will be issued on April 15, 2011. (ii) Mail Operations Solution Objectives: a) This will provide full article visibility across the supply of chain – from booking to delivery b) It will help improve revenue generation through new services/products e.g., Logistics Post. c) The solution will increase number of delivery channels for services/products, e.g. web portal and call centre. Status: Vendors have been shortlisted. RFP will be issued on April 15, 2011. (iii) Enterprise-wide Human Resource Management Solution and Finance & Accounts Solution Objective: a) The solution would enable one single source of data across Department of Posts by online data capture and real time reconciliation b) The solution would enable centralized payroll processing. c) The solution would help the Department of Posts move from cash based to accrual based accounting system. d) The Department Recruitment process would be streamlined. Status: Vendors have been shortlisted. RFP will be issued by April 15, 2011 (iv) Banking and Postal Life Insurance Solution: Banking Solutions objectives It will lead to Centralized processing of transactions/data, ATMs, Mobile Banking and Real time Banking. This will also enable e-commerce and web channels for customers. Postal Life Insurance Solution objectives a) It enables the complete insurance solution by eliminating delays and errors. b) This will enable the interaction through multiple channels, c) The solution would also enable safer and faster transactions including premium collection and disbursement. Status: RFP has been issued. Technical evaluation of Banking Solution will be completed by April 30, 2011. (v) Change Management Objective Change Management for the India Post 2012 program will focus on effective management of change in technology and business process as a result of introduction of the IT solutions. (vi) Establishment of Data Centre Objective Networking of all 1.55 lakh post offices Status RFP has been issued. Process of evaluation of bids is going on. vii) Rural ICT Service Integrator Objective To provide ICT services of Postal, Banking and Insurance in rural post offices Status RFP has been issued. Technical evaluation of bids will be completed by April 30, 2011. (viii) Network Integrator Status RFP has been issued on April 06, 2011 II. COMPUTERIZATION OF 9,600 POST OFFICES Orders have been placed for supply of computers to 9,600 post offices. Supply has commenced. III. WHITE LABEL PRE-PAID CARDS The Department is going to introduce White Label Pre paid cards in collaboration with banks. Objective The objective of launching this card is to leverage cash handling expertise and the network of India Post in order to facilitate non-cash based transactions for purchase of products and services at retail outlets across the country and to earn revenue through value added service. This card will be magnetic strip based loaded with pre-determined amount in rupees and could be operated at merchant locations, ATMs and designated post offices. Status Department of Posts has got approval from the RBI. Partner banks are awaiting the approval from RBI. IV. FLAT RATE BOXES 100 days agenda to introduce Pre-paid parcel boxes for domestic parcels for 1 Kg, 2.5 Kg and 5 Kg. The boxes will be sold through more than 800 post offices across the country. V. PASSENGER RESERVATION SYSTEM (PRS) - 100 days Agenda Railway Passenger Reservation System (PRS) to be provided through 71 more post offices (in addition to the existing 120 post offices) by March 31, 2011 to benefit people who are living away from Railway Booking Counters. Status Railway Passenger Reservation System has been provided to 12 more post offices. VI. UP-GRADATION OF SPEED POST CENTERS - 100 days Agenda 17 more Speed Post centers to be equipped with handheld scanners and bar code readers to provide better track and trace facility to the customers. Status ll 17 Speed Post centers have been up-graded. VII. MICRO-INSURANCE POLICY – 100 days Agenda To underwrite 45 lakh Micro-Insurance policies in Rural Areas. Status 46.62 Lakh Micro-insurance policies have been underwritten in rural areas as on March 31, 2011. SP/AS Source: Press Information Bureau