GOVT CONSIDERING UNIQUE NUMBER FOR ALL PF ACCOUNT HOLDERS

The Government is considering a proposal to give unique numbers to all provident fund account holders with life-time validity, a Regional PF commissioner said today. Regional PF Commissioner-I, Bangalore, Kamma Narayana said the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation headquarters has recently sought feedback on the proposal from PF commissioners in the country.

"The proposal is under consideration," he told reporters on the sidelines of an interactive session hosted by the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC) here.

The proposal, if implemented, would see an employee will have the same unique number despite changing jobs and having new employers.

"All through his life, that will be the permanent account number for him," Narayana said. Asked if he expected the proposal to be implemented from the current financial year, he said "hopefully" but added that it's only at the proposal stage now.

Source : The Financial Express, Sept 11, 2012

SOON, THE POSTMAN WILL KNOCK, TABLET IN HAND

Very soon, your friendly neighbourhood postman will bring along a tablet computer when he knocks at your door, to carry out all transactions related to delivery of cash, banking activities and a few more.

Infosys’ Vice-President and Head for India Business Raghu Cavale told Business Line that India Post is in talks with the IT major to source hardware and software for the next phase of its computerisation. This project will involve sourcing of low-cost 7-inch and 10-inch tablets and the development of apps for them. Infosys will also develop intellectual property (IP) out of its Bangalore office for these apps.

While the tablets will be used by the postman to enter data such as digital signatures and a delivery challan, the apps will be used by India Post to update its backend database in real time, helping it cut down on errors and fraud. India Post covers about 200 million customers across India and offers small savings schemes, postal life insurance, rural postal life insurance, pension payments and wage disbursements.

The postal department is looking at these solutions as a part of its modernisation drive and to increase operational effectiveness.

Growth forecast

On its part, Infosys sees its India business growing to about $1 billion in the next four years. It recently bagged a key IT outsourcing and consulting deal with India Post and another deal from the Income-Tax Department for its electronic TDS division.

At present, the India operations of Infosys contribute 2 per cent of its $7-billion revenues but the software major considers India one of its key emerging markets. This importance can be gauged from the fact that Infosys’ India business is one of the four verticals within Infosys that reports to the board directly.

The India Post project, which Infosys bagged recently, is worth Rs 700 crore. This project is aimed at spreading financial services across 1.5 lakh post offices in the country. As part of the project, Infosys will also install 1,000 ATMs for India Post to increase the effectiveness of its delivery channel.

The Hindu Business Line, Sept 12, 2012

'DAKIYA' BACK IN 'KHAKI'

Once the ubiquitous postman, whose uniform was changed from 'khaki' to blue to give him a corporate look, has been longing to go back to his original dress code. In fact, after the switch from 'khaki' uniform with a matching 'Netaji' cap, postmen feel that they had lost their 'friendly' image and wish to regain the image a 'dakiya' (popular name in Hindi for postman) through the 'khaki.'

There are 3,129 postmen in Madhya Pradesh who would now don back the khaki with the new India Post red logo. The team includes 119 women who would be supplied with khaki sarees replacing the existing blue ones. For men, the reverted khaki uniform, however, would not have the old Netaji cap.

It was in 2004 when the Union government changed the uniform of postmen from khaki to sky-blue shirts and deep-blue trousers. For women, the sky-blue sarees has a dark-blue border. The department of post personnel had been long demanding reverting the dress code.

"The blue uniform had not only nudged us out of market, but even made us look strangers," said president of postal employees association Prahlad Jaiswal, who has been spear-heading the fight to win back the almost lost-craze for the postman. "A crucial meeting on 'khaki uniform' with senior officials of the Madhya Pradesh circle will be held on September 13 at Bhopal, and we have been asking the Union government to reconsider our demand of going back to khaki," he said.

"The change from khaki to blue aimed to give a corporate touch from the drab-sounding and dull-looking khaki. However, no one realized that the change in uniform will make the postmen invisible," said the secretary of the association, Raju Yadav.

"The khaki uniform had given us the look of a government employee and made us look something different from run of the mill. Look at the uniform of forest officials and policemen, they are still the same and make them stand out from the rest of security agencies and other uniforms worn by the government employees," said Yadav.

"The decision to return back to khaki has already been taken," said a senior official of the postal department preferring anonymity. "It is a matter of time when postmen would be distributed the khaki uniform," he said.

Source : The Times of India, Sept 12, 2012

FIVE FOREIGN CONSULTANTS IN RACE FOR ‘POST BANK OF INDIA’ PROJECT

The Department of Posts has issued request for proposals (RFP) to five top notch foreign consultancy firms for the proposed Post Bank of India project.

The five short-listed firms are Accenture Services, Boston Consulting Group, Ernst & Young, KPMG Advisory Services and McKinsey & Co.

The Department of Posts (DoP) is looking to set up a bank — Post Bank of India (PBI) — to provide banking services with special focus on rural areas.

Besides providing a platform for financial inclusion, the Post Bank of India will provide means of additional revenue generation for the DoP.

The consultancy firms chosen, out of the five short-listed ones, will as part of the assignment focus on Detailed Project Report (DPR) on creation of PBI, financial viability of PBI, proposed organisational structure of PBI in the light of RBI regulations, and relationship between PBI and Post Office Savings Bank.