The mega project to make the countrys postal Services
green and restore their old glory has been delayed, bringing pressure on the
Government to expedite the process of IT induction in the massive network of
1,55,000 post offices.
The IT Induction and Modernisation Project aims at
improving the Working of the Department of Posts across all its functions faster
and more reliable services in postal, logistics, banking, insurance and retail
operations.
The transformation of physical network to a digital
network will provide a national asset for all users, apart from post offices,
like various government departments, business houses and citizens.
The digitisation would bridge the rural and urban divide
and bring about transparency.
For example, the implementation of the rural ICT Solution
will enable the Department of Posts to roll out Direct Benefit Transfer(DBT)
through a network of 1.55 lakh post offices in rural as well as urban areas.
Rural post offices will be enabled with hand-held device
with biometric identification and Micro ATM enablement, wireless network,
thermal printer to provide immediate receipt to customers and solar powered
battery to charge and operate the ATM.
The objective is to provide technology solution to each
branch master to improve the quality of services being offered by 1,30,00
branches to rural customers.
The ease of transactions will encourage rural citizens to
avail the services of Post offices, thereby having a positive impact on the
rural economy, besides improving financial inclusion.
The postal modernisation would enable the rural postal
network to create institutional infrastructure for last mile delivery of all
government services to all citizens.
The project will make the post offices the focal point of
delivery for social security and employment guarantee schemes of the Centre and
state governments, including disbursement of wages under MGNREGS, pensions and
scholarship.
With the roll-out of the IT Induction and Modernisation
Project, the Department of Posts would be in a position to introduce several
new services in the future like delivery of e-commerce articles, offering
seamless track and trace facility and paying phone/electricity Bills, booking
train and air tickets.
However, there are major challenges faced by the Department,
including the time-consuming nature of public procurement of process, selected
vendors not taking up the allocated work leading to major delays, telecom
connectivity issues in areas like the North-East, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand,
Ladakh and island territories and on top of that managing the workforce of 4.66
lakh employees which have no prior experience of working in an IT-enabled
environment.UNI NAZ SV AE 1030
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