YEAR END REVIEW-2021: DEPARTMENT OF POSTS (DOP).
Postman Mobile App (PMA) implemented in 1.43 lakh POs including 98,454 Post Offices in rural areas
Election Commission of India(ECI) ties up with Department of Posts for delivery of Electors Photo Identity Card through Speed Post across the country.
Postal Department installs Global Positioning System (GPS) in approx. 1263 operational
Mail Motor Services (MMS) vehicles across the country Enters into multilateral agreement with 120 countries to enable faster customs clearance of Postal items
Postal Department facilitates clearance, processing and delivery of COVID related emergency shipments received through post from abroad during 2nd COVID wave 1.67 crore new accounts opened;
Approx. Rs. 8.19 lakh crore volume of transactions handled in CBS (Core Banking Service) POs
2.26 Crore Sukanya Samriddhi Accounts opened by the Department of Posts, till October, 2021 since introduction of the scheme; Approx. 86% of total SSA accounts in the country are through Post Offices only
Over 12 lakh applications processed through Post Office Passport Seva Kendras from January, 2021 to October, 2021
More than 1.49 Crore requests for aadhaar enrollments / updations processed by 13,352 Post Office Aadhaar Centres from January, 2021 to October, 2021
1789 Branch Post Offices opened in 90 identified Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected districts in country; 3114 new Branch Post Offices (BOs) to be made functional by March, 2021 Posted On: 29 DEC 2021 11:33AM by PIB Delhi
For more than 150 years, the Department of Posts (DOP) has been the backbone of the country’s communication and has played a crucial role in the country’s social economic development. It touches the lives of Indian citizens in many ways: delivering mails, accepting deposits under Small Savings Schemes, providing life insurance cover under
Postal Life Insurance (PLI) and Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI) and providing retail services like bill collection, sale of forms, etc. The DOP also acts as an agent for Government of India in discharging other services for citizens such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) wage disbursement and old age pension payments.
The Year End Review for Department of Posts highlights the achievements, and progress on various initiatives of department in the year 2021.
1. Supply Chain and e-Commerce: Mail, Express Services and Parcel: Real time updation of delivery:
Postman Mobile App implemented in 1.43 lakh POs including 98,454 Post Offices in rural areas. Real time delivery status of 47.5 crore from January-October, 2021 Speed Post and registered articles done through the Postman Mobile App.
● 98% letter box is attached with Departmental Post Offices have been covered under electronic clearance through Mobile App named “Nanyatha”.
● A flagship product of Department of Posts “Speed Post” marked are venue of Rs. 1413.34 crores for handling of traffic of 34.97 Crores during the period of January 2021 to October2021.
● Department is the sole delivery partner of UIDAI since it since option. DOP so far been delivered 166.73 crore Aadhaar cards through ordinary posts and 1.56 crores Aadhaar PVC cards through Speed Post from Jan 2013 to Nov 2021.
● Department of Post also entered into a tie up with LIC of India for providing complete print to post solution for printing and delivery of policy bonds issued by LIC where in more than 2 crore Policy Bonds are expected to be printed, posted and delivered in a year through Speed Post, generating are venue of more than Rs.100 crores per annum.
● Department of Posts has entered into tie up with Election Commission of India (ECI) for delivery of Elect or Photo Identity Cards (EPICs) through Speed Post. In the initial phase, ECI would provide 6-7 Crore EPICs for delivery through Speed Post, generating are venue of around Rs. 100 in a year.
Department of Posts has installed Global Positioning System (GPS) in approx. 1263 operational Mail Motor Services (MMS) vehicles across the country and also implemented PS based online tracking system for all the MMS operative vehicles in all Postal Circles with 24X7 control rooms.
● 17 additional new MMS vehicles have been purchased for Jammu & Kashmir Postal circle to improve inter-state connectivity.
● 75 new vehicles have been replaced against condemned vehicles in various Circles during the current FY 2021-22.
● A multilateral agreement for the exchange of electronic advanced data (EAD) has been entered into with more than 120 countries. This agreement shall enable transmission of electronic customs data of International Postal items before their physical arrival at the destination country. It shall also enable faster customs clearance of Postal items.
● PRIME United States Postal Services (USPS) tracked service agreement is signed between India Post and USPS. It will meet the customers demand for a cost-efficient and track-able service. It will help in increasing the mail volume and revenue of India post.
● In order to simplify and ease the customs clearance of International articles, automated Postal Bill of Export (PBE) Software is being developed by DOP. The first version of automated (PBE) software is developed and it is under production environment. It will ease the process of commercial export through
● Postal Channel by enabling customs clearance in digital mode. After implementation of this software the booking of commercial exports will not remain limited to notified locations. International Business Center (IBC) Surat was inaugurated by Minister of State for Communications on 03.11.21. It will provide a much-needed platform in the region to boost commercial export and will fulfill the demands of exporters.
● During the 2nd wave of COVID-19, Department of Posts in collaboration with Customs authorities, facilitated clearance, processing and delivery of COVID related emergency shipments received through post from abroad e. g. oxygen concentrators, equipment, medicines etc. In order to further facilitate the clearance and faster delivery of such shipments a COVID helpdesk was established at Dak Bhawan and all Offices of Exchange.
● 2. Banking Services and Financial Inclusion: Digital Financial empowerment of the public at large: DOP serves more than 29.29 crore Active POSB accounts through 1.56 lakh post offices across length & breadth of the country and have an outstanding balance of Rs. 12,56,073 crore under Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) Schemes. Overall, 1.67 crore new accounts opened and Rs. 4.71 lakh crore Deposits, Rs. 3.48 lakh crore withdrawal made thereby approx. Rs. 8.19 lakh crore volume of transactions handled in CBS (Core Banking Service) POs. As a result, Net addition of 51.45 lakh accounts and Net deposits of Rs. 1,22,851 crore have been done in CBS POs since April, 2021.
The Post Office CBS system is the largest network in the world with 24,971 Offices already on this network. Further 1,29,219 Branch Post Offices have been also enabled to access the network on real time basis. The CBS has enabled the DOP in providing 24x7 services through ATMs, Internet & Mobile Banking.
● Financial Empowerment of Rural Populace: All the 9 Small Savings Schemes of MoF are available in 1.56 lakh Post Offices. 5 Schemes, namely, Monthly Income Scheme, Senior Citizens Savings Scheme, Public Provident Fund, National Savings Certificate & Kisan Vikas Patra have been introduced in Bos (Branch Post Offices). People living in rural India will not be required to come to town & cities to do any Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) transaction. The same will be available at their doorstep through local Branch Post Offices.
● Economic Empowerment of Girl Child: Sukanya Samriddhi Account (SSA) scheme is also known as girl child prosperity scheme and was launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji on 22nd January, 2015 in Panipat, Haryana. SSA scheme ensures a bright future for girl children. This scheme has facilitated them in proper education, marriage expenses and securing their future. The Sukanya Samriddhi Account can be opened in any post office. A total of 2.26 Crore Sukanya Samriddhi Accounts have been opened with deposits amounting to Rs. 80,509.29 Crore, by the Department of Posts, till October, 2021 since introduction of the scheme. Approx. 86% of the total SSA accounts in the country are through Post Offices only.
● Insurance and Pension coverage of masses at reasonable rates: The PM Jan Suraksha Schemes, namely, Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), Pradhan Mantri Jeewan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) & Atal Pension Yojana (APY) were launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister in May, 2015. The DOP has been playing an active role under these Government of India flagship schemes and had made 3.47 Lakh Atal Pension Yojana (APY), 7.54 Lakh Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) (including annual auto renewals) and 1.38 crore Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) (including annual auto renewals) enrolments so far.
3. Postal Life Insurance (PLI)/Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI): A provision has been introduced for claimant to file an appeal against rejection of death claim cases in PLI/RPLI.
● “Sankalan” e-compendium comprising Post Office Life Insurance Rules 2011, various Standard Operating Procedures, Forms etc. was released on occasion of PLI Day i.e., 01.02.2021 for ease of officials working at various offices as well as for the use of customers and is also available on website.
● Rule 61 of POLI Rules, 2011 has been amended wherein the restriction of two (2) years for settlement of claim on death due to suicide has been reduced to one (1) year, at par with insurance industry practice.
● Business Performance of PLI and RPLI: As on 31.10.2021, there were a total of 100.51 lakh active PLI and RPLI policies with an aggregate sum assured of Rs. 2.32 lakh crores.
● Investment Functions of PLI and RPLI Fund: The total corpus of PLI/RPLI fund has reached Rs. 1.27 lakh crores upto 31.10.2021.
● Bima Gram Yojana : From January 2021 to October 2021, 6,657 villages brought under the coverage of Bima Gram Yojana (BGY). Each Bima Gram Yojana village has at least 100 households covered by one RPLI policy.
● Customer can procure Postal Life Insurance policies online without visiting Post Office. To facilitate multiple payment option of PLI premium and disbursement like Maturity/ Surrender/ Survival/ Death / loan, a close integration with Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) has been done, wherein policy holders can use Standing Instructions (SI), POSB eBanking, mobile banking facility and also use Post Office ATM facilities. Multiple payment gateways have also introduced in the system for online premium payment. ●
● PLI/RPLI Policy bonds in digital format are now available to policy holders through DigiLocker.
4. Citizen Centric Services: Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (PoPSK): With the growing need of citizens for a passport, Ministry of External Affairs and Department of Posts have mutually agreed for setting up Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (PoPSKs) in post offices to utilise the reach and infrastructure of Post Offices for delivering passport services. 428 PoPSKs have been made operational till date, of which 02 PoPSKs have been opened in 2021 namely (i) Dombivali, Maharashtra and (ii) Ekma, Bihar. 12,01,360 applications have been processed through PoPSKs from January, 2021 to October, 2021.
● Aadhar Enrolment and Updation Centres: The facility has brought convenience to the citizens by way of generating new Aadhaar and updating their Aadhaar cards in case of any change/mis-match. More than 42,000 Postal Officials/MTS/GDS have been trained/certified to perform Aadhaar operations. The Aadhaar Enrolments are done free of cost. 13,352 Post Office Aadhaar Centres have been set up across the country. 1,49,50,803 requests for enrollments / updations have been processed by these
● Centres from January, 2021 to October, 2021. Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT): More than 3.29 crores transactions were performed involving an amount of Rs. 3607 crores for a period from January, 2021 to October, 2021. Disbursed benefits of more than 275 schemes of different Ministries to beneficiaries including those in remote and rural areas.
● Digital Inclusion: 1,29,252 Branch Post offices are using SIM based handheld Point of Sale (POS) devices. ●
● Digital Advancement of Rural Post Offices for a New India (DARPAN): Carried out 12.87 crores online Postal and financial transactions involving an amount of Rs.19,402/- crores for a period from January, 2021 to October, 2021 through 1,29,252lakh Branch Post Offices in the rural areas of the country. More than 1.95 crores transactions per month are taking place through DARPAN devices. PO-CSC (Post Office-Common Service Centres): A convergence of Post Offices and Common Service Centres for effective delivery of various citizen centric services is a part of the five-year Vision Document (2019-24) of the Department of Posts. Accordingly, 91867 Post offices are now providing CSC services through Digital Sewa Portal of CSC. ●
● Launched on 04.05.2020 in 22 Pilot Post Offices selected from 11 Circles. Expanded to 91867 offices by Oct 2021.MoA Signed between DoP and CSC-SPV on 15.12.2020More than 49669 Operators trained100+ CSC Services are offered through these POs which include G2C and B2C Services.Since its inception, as on 31.10.2021, 7.37 Lakh transactions worth ₹59.9 Crores were delivered through 91867 PO-CSCs ● Some of Government to Citizen Schemes Promoted by CSC are: Pradhan Mantri Street Vendors’ Atma Nirbhar Nidhi Yojana
● (PMSVANIDHI) Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (Ayushman Bharat)Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan Yojana (PM-SYM)Pradhan Mantri Laghu Vyapari Maan-dhan Yojana (PM-LVM)The Election Card PrintingVarious e-District ServicesSome of B2C (Business to Citizens) Services offered areBharat Bill Payment System Bills (Electric, Gas, Water bills etc...)Renewal Premium collection for Life Insurance Policies and General Insurance such as Motor Vehicle,etcThird party services such as EMI collections for various loans offered by financial institutions and submission of online application forms for loans.Travel services such as Ticket booking service is available for Flight, Train and Bus Tickets
● Opening of new Branch Post Offices (BOs) in 90 identified Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected districts in the country: In pursuance of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Note for Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), a proposal for opening of 4903 new Branch Post Offices (BOs) in 90 identified LWE districts in the country was under taken. In the first phase, 1789 Branch Post Offices have been opened, so far. Recently, Ministry of Finance (MoF) has approved the proposal for opening of remaining 3114 BOs in 90 LWE districts. In this context, 3114 Gramin Dak Sewaks –Branch Postmaster & Assistant Branch Postmaster posts have already been sanctioned to all concerned circles viz, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Telangana & Uttar Pradesh respectively for opening of remaining 3114 BOs in 90 LWE districts. All concerned circles have already been intimated to make 3114 BOs functional by the end of the March.
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5. Public Grievances: Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS): Revamping of Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) was done by mapping over 1.5 lakh Post Offices till the level of Branch Post Offices by intuitive navigation of complaints to the lineend offices for faster resolution of grievances. Department of Posts was the first Department to revamp CPGRAMS in collaboration with Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances. This version not only saves time of resolution but also reduces human intervention by bypassing infructuous levels. The option of remedy of Appeals against resolution was provided to the complainants on CPGRAMS in Jan 2021. The details of the grievances handled in 2021 upto 15.11.2021 areas under:-
● Year Complaints received during the period including B/F Complaints settled during the period % of settlement of settlement Average disposal time (days) 01.01.2021 to 15.11.2021 48637 46585 96 16 Social Media Cell: Social Media Cell is an independent entity and deals with the Twitter, Facebook & Instagram accounts of the Department of Posts. Social media team has been strengthened and its working hours extended from 8 hours a day to 16 hours a day. Consequently, the overall average first response time was brought down to 1 hr 35 minutes from over 4 hours. The details of the complaints handled in 2021 upto15.11.2021 areas under:-
● Year Complaints received during the period Complaints settled during the period % of settlement 01.01.2021 to 15.11.2021 2,39,133 2,37,187 99.2 % India Post Call Centre (IPCC): The Department rolled out India Post Call Centre (IPCC) on 01.06.2018 in Varanasi. The facility of Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) in IPCC is available for customers 24*7*365. Presently, IPCC is working in eleven languages mapped with geographical locations of the customers. 1.46 crore calls have been serviced in IPCC since its inception. Postal Life Insurance/Rural Postal Life Insurance and Financial Services facilities have been integrated in IPCC which enables IPCC to disseminate the citizens’ centric information to the citizens.
● Implementation of Dynamic Queue Management System (DQMS) in Post Offices: Dynamic Queue Management System (DQMS) has wire based calling terminal which is available at counters and operates on a stand-alone software. A dispenser with thermal printer is available at the entry gate. DQMS has been installed in 325 Head Post Offices having six or more than six working counters. This has helped the public in reducing waiting time, increase in processing capacity, providing comfort level to staff and customers and monitoring customer flow.
● Special Campaign to reduce pendency from 2nd Oct to 31st Oct 2021: Among all Ministries/Departments of Government of India, Department of Posts also participated in the special campaign from 2nd Oct to 31st Oct 2021, to reduce pendency. During the special campaign, the Department ensured significant disposal of Public Grievances, references from Members of Parliament, State Governments and Parliament Assurances. Further, all efforts were taken to improve records management, weeding out of files and overall cleanliness of Government Offices.
● Initiatives taken by the Department in the COVID-l9 situation: CPGRAMS Portal: A separate category for 'COVID-19' grievances was created on CPGRAMS to address and monitor grievances of the public with regard to their postal needs in the backdrop of the pandemic. 879 grievances have been resolved within the prescribed timeline of 3 days from 01.01.2021 to 22.11.2021.
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6. Marketing & Visibility of Department of Posts: Department of Posts is also taking a number of steps to increase the visibility and awareness about postal products and services. In the current fiscal, the Department has undertaken several activities/ campaigns for the marketing of its products and services which include release of advertisement in Radio, TV, Hoardings, etc. The Social Media handles are being utilized for marketing of its products and services.
● Apart from this, the Department of Posts is among the first few Departments of Government of India to set up its social media accounts. This enabled the Department in engaging with its customer base directly. So far, the Department of Posts has over 308.4K followers on Facebook, 323.8K on Twitter, 9.8k on Instagram and 204.9K on KOO. Videos related to the Department of Posts and various schemes of the Department are being uploaded on YouTube. There is constant update on the activities undertaken by the Department and promotion of Departmental products is being done on daily basis.
Department of Posts also has its own web portal (https://www.indiapost.gov.in) wherein information is regularly uploaded and updated for generating a broader awareness and visibility about the activities, products and services of the Department Through social media accounts of the Department of Posts, updates to the citizens about the Government initiatives, services being provided by the Department, and activities undertaken are being done. Release of advertisement for promotion, publicity and advertising of Postal Life Insurance and Rural Postal Life Insurance through Radio Jingles in AIR FM and local FM channels across the country in the month of March 2021.
● Under the initiative of the Government of India, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting shared creative for promotion and publicity of "Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana" PM-GKAY Foodgrains through Post Offices. This special scheme was initially available for 2 months (May & June) which was extended to November 2021. The creative on PM-GKAY was displayed in all the Post Offices across the country.
● Under the initiative of the Government of India, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting shared Jan Andolan Campaign 2021 creatives with renewed emphasis on ‘Dawaibhi, KadaiBhi’ with focus on the five-fold strategy viz Testing, Tracing, Treatment, COVID appropriate behaviour and Vaccination which was shared to all Circles on 8th April, 2021. The same was displayed in all Post Offices and also through the Social Media Handles of the Department of Posts.
● Ministry of Information and Broadcasting shared creatives on “Vaccines for all, Free for all” campaign, an initiative of the Government of India, was carried out in all Post Offices in the month of June 2021. This campaign was also carried out in the Social Media Handles of the Department of Posts.
● Ministry of Information and Broadcasting shared creatives on India’s achievement of “100 Crore vaccination mark”, which was displayed in all Post Offices across India. The creatives were also displayed in the Social Media Handle of the Department of Posts.
● In the online campaign for celebrating Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav which is being coordinated by the Ministry of Culture, a major event relating to rendering of National Anthem of India (Rashtragaan) was done through the link https://rashtragaan.in/ which was shared to all Directorates/Divisions/Sections of the Department and also to the Circles. A total of 2,11,608 of the Department took part in the online campaign.
● An online quiz competition was held over the Social Media Handles of the Department of Posts in commemoration of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav in the run up to Independence Day 2021. Four winners were selected from four Social Media Handles of the Department which was declared on 15th August 2021 and were presented with goody bags.
● In regard to dissemination of information about the constitutional right to legal aid and availability of free legal aid services, NALSA has entered into a collaborative project with the Department of Posts. In this collaborative project Nation-wide sensitization is done through all Post offices across India owing to their well-established network. This dissemination of information of NALSA is being provided free of cost as a social obligation of the Department of Posts.
● 11th Oct to 17th Oct 2021 was celebrated as India Post- Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav ICONIC Week, during which various activities, programs, webinars were conducted and also promoted on social media in collaboration with PIB and MyGov. Briefly described as below:
● As engaging activities, a week-long activity for audience in collaboration with My Gov was organised where audience were asked to share snap/photo of their preserved letters/postcards along with brief touching story about it, at My Gov platform. Also, on Philately day, audience were requested to share their first stamp collected with the story behind it.
● Webinars on the themes of “How India Post is contributing towards financial inclusion in rural areas”, on “Postal Life Insurance-Insuring Lives & Assuring Happiness” and “India Post for MSME, Small Business, Artisans “Aatmanirbhar Bharat’s Logistics partner” were live streamed on the social media handles of the Department.
● In respect of on ground activities, various financial inclusion Melas with special focus on Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, PLI/RPLI were conducted across the country. Coverage on the Melas were done on the Social Media Handles of the Department. In respect of on ground activities, various financial inclusion Melas with special focus on Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, PLI/RPLI were conducted across the country. Coverage on the Melas were done on the Social Media Handles of the Department.
● Documentary on India@75 (Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav), as provided by Ministry of Culture were displayed in the Melas to bring awareness and special cover on India@75 in consultation with Ministry of Culture was release which was also displayed through the Social Media Handles of the Department.
● The whole week milestone on number of Sukanya Samriddhi Accounts opened, total number of life insured/covered were also shared through the Social Media Handles of the Department. ●
● On 14th October 'Business Development Day', a total of 1.16 lakhs Aadhaar transactions (enrollment/updation) were done in 1641 Camps/Melas across the country and the same was also shared through the Social Media Handles of the Department. Special Covers on Unsung Heroes of the respective State / UT in consultation with Ministry of Culture were released on Philately Day. The same was also shared on Social Media Handles of the Department.
