EXPANSION OF POSTAL SERVICES

The Government has formulated comprehensive working plan for the development, expansion and modernization of postal services. Under this, major activities , as laid out in XII Five Year Plan, include opening of branch Post Offices, setting up of Automatic Mail Processing Centers, development and deployment of Rural ICT solution, deployment of Core Banking, increasing insurance cover, establishment of Parcel and Logistics Post Hubs, up gradation of Speed Post Centers, Human Resource Training to Personnel, construction of Post offices/administrative offices, installation of Solar Power Packs and setting up of Postal Training Centers.

The proposed financial allocation for the XII Five Year Plan, in this regard is Rs. 12,000 crore. As for setting up of Speed Post Centres, the erstwhile Centres have been reconstructed in the form of Speed Post Sorting Hubs for operational purposes. Sorting hubs have been set up taking into account the following factors:-

(i) Speed Post Mail handled by a city/town

(ii) Connectivity of city/town in terms of air, rail and road.

(iii) Distance of a city proposed for sorting hub from post offices and other hubs; and

(iv) Mail generations potential of the city/town under consideration.

No new Speed Post Sorting Hubs are proposed for opening in the next two years. The total number of complaints received for speed post articles in 2011 are 1,48,381 out of which 67,420 were for late delivery and 80,961 for non-delivery. A mechanism has been set up in the Department of Posts for prompt disposal of complaints through Customer Care Centre in all Postal Divisions. Instructions are issued to Divisions for cent-percent handling and settlement of web-based complaints. While specific instances are resolved individually, system defects that come to notice are rectified to avoid recurrence of such instances.

This information was given in Lok Sabha today by Shri Sachin Pilot, the Minister of State, Communication and Information Technology in response to a question.

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BK/AT

(Release ID :81431)(PIB)