1. British-legacy
  2. Extra Departmental branch offices
  3. Franchisee Outlets
  4. Panchayat Sanchar Seva Kendras
  5. PIN
  6. Mail: 1st class vs 2nd class
  7. National Address Database Management System
  8. Rural CPI
  9. Meghdoot Millennium
  10. Project Arrow
  11. Gold coins
  12. ePost
  13. Speed post
  14. eSpeed net
  15. Business Post
  16. RAKNPA
  17. UPU
  18. Sorting machines
  19. Money transfer: Domestic and International
  20. Money order
  21. eMO
  22. iMO
  23. MO videsh
  24. International Money transfer
  25. ECS
  26. POSB
  27. Postal Life Insurance (PLI)
  28. Philately
  29. My Stamp
  30. INPEX-2013
  31. Post: 12th five year plan: goals/objectives
  32. Timeline: Postal services
  33. Mock Questions

British-legacy

Post 1766 Postal system established in India Clive
1774 Calcutta GPO under a postmaster general. Warren Hastings
Telegraph 1851 Kolkata and Diamond Harbor Dalhousie
Railways 1853 Mumbai to Thane (34kms)
Telephone 1881 Kolkata Ripon

Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (IT) has

  1. Department of Telecom
  2. DEITY (Department of Electronics and Information and Technology)
  3. Department of Post

Department of Posts has the largest postal network in the world : More than 1.5 lakh post offices

Extra Departmental branch offices
  • Under this system,personnel,called Gramin Dak Sewas are employed
  • to run the post office for a period not exceeding five hours,and to deliver and convey mails.

Franchisee Outlets
  • are opened in urban areas where it is not possible to open a regular Post Office.

Panchayat Sanchar Seva Kendras
  • are opened at Gram Panchayat Headquarters where Post Offices do not exist.

PIN

  • Postal Index Number (PIN)
  • Introduced in ‘72
  • 6 digit code

How does PIN code work?

Consider the PIN code 380009

  • First digit “3”= Western region (Rajasthan, Gujarat). There are total 9 regions in India, 1-8=geographical and 9th reserved for army postal service.
  • First two digits “38”= these indicate “sub-region. Number between 36 to 39 denote Gujarat
  • First three digits “380”=indicate the “Revenue district/circle” =Ahmedabad
  • Last three digits “009”=indicate the delivery post office = Navarangpura Post office.

Back in 2008, there were talks of replacing 6 Digit PIN with 8 digit PAL (Postal address locator).

Mail: 1st class vs 2nd class

1st class 2nd class
Examples
  • Post cards
  • Inland letters
  • Envelops
  • Book packets
  • Registered newspapers
  • Periodicals
Sent via
  • Surface + air (whenever advantageous)
  • First class mails get free Air mail transmission within India.
  • Surface (road, railways).
  • They get air lift only if prepaid with air surcharge.

National Address Database Management System

  • to effectively manage the address database
  • to update the addresses online and help the public in locating correct addresses
  • The application shall be hosted on India Post website and will provide address and pincode search option to the public.

Rural CPI

  • Postal Department is responsible for collection of data from rural areas to compute the rural consumer price index every month.
  • Btw, recall that Rural CPI is calculated by Central Statistical Organization (CSO) under Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation.

Meghdoot Millennium

  • This software is used by Postal Department for front and back office operations.
  • This software is designed by Centre for Excellence in Postal Technology(CEPT) located at Mysore,Karnataka.

Project Arrow
  • By Department of Post
  • To upgrade Post Offices in urban and rural areas both in terms of
    1. Improving “core services”: mail delivery, financial services and counter operations
    2. Improving the ‘look and feel’ of the Post Offices.

Gold coins

 Indian Post sells 24 carat Gold coins In association with

  1. Reliance Money Infrastructure Limited(RMIL)
  2. World Gold Council

ePost
  • enables people to send and receive messages or scanned images through e-mail from Post Offices in the country.

Speed post
  • for sending both documents and merchandise upto 35 kilograms.

eSpeed net
  • Internet based track and trace service

Business Post
  • Pre-mailing activities for bulk post

RAKNPA
  • Rafi Ahmed Kidwai National Postal Academy(RAKNPA), Gaziabad. is the apex training institute in the Department of Posts. (earlier known as Postal staff college).

Rafi Ahmed Kidwai: bio

  • regular member of the Khilafat Organisation
  • Ran Non-Cooperation Movement in Barabanki district.
  • 1937: Minister for Revenue and Prisons in UP. Under his stewardship, UP became the first province to curtail the zamindari system
  • 1946: he became the Home Minister of Uttar Pradesh. introduced jail reforms.
  • 1947: Nehru made him India’s first Minister for Communications
  • 1952: Union minister for Food and agriculture (after 1st General election)
  • ICAR also gives a prize named after him, to agricultural scientists.

UPU
  • Universal Postal Union (UPU)
  • specialized agency of the United Nations
  • HQ:Berne, Switzerland

Sorting machines

@Delhi and Kolkata

LSM

 Letter sorting machineLSM can sort approximately 35,000 letters every hour

MMS

 Mixed mail sorterMMS can sort approximately 18,000 flats,packets and small parcels per hour.

Money transfer: Domestic and International

Money order
  • Maximum amount which can be remitted through a single money order is Rs.5000/-.
  • Commission = 5% of the value of money to be transmitted

eMO
  • Electronic Money Order(eMO)
  • is a system that facilitates remittance of MOs electronically, for which post offices should have Connectivity by WAN/Broadband.
  • The eMOs can be tracked through Indiapost website.

iMO
  • It is an instant web based money transfer service.
  • Amount recieved can also be credited to the savings bank account of the payee.
  • Under this service, a person can send amount from Rs.1000/up to Rs.50,000/-in one transaction.

MO videsh
  • For outward remittances
  • shall not exceed 5000 USD, only 12 transections in a calendar year per person.

International Money transfer
  • for inward remittance
  • maximum of 2500 USD can be received at a time.
  • 12 transactions can be received by a single beneficiary in a calendar year.

with the help of

  1. Western Union financial services
  2. Money Gram Payment Systems Inc. USA

ECS
  • Electronic Clearance Service (ECS):
  • ECS scheme provides alternative method for bulk payment, payment of interest/salary/pension/dividend.

POSB

  • The Post Office Savings Bank(POSB)
  • It operates the Small Savings Schemes of finance ministry on an agency basis.
  • Some of the scheme run by POSB
  1. Post Office Savings Account
  2. Public Provident Fund Scheme
  3. National Savings Certificate(VIII Issue) & (IX Issue)
  4. Senior Citizen’s Saving Scheme-2004.

NPS

Posts: Other functions

  • Responsibility disbursing wages to Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) beneficiaries through post office savings bank accounts.
  • disbursement of benefits under various schemes such as pensions and conditional cash transfers to women

Postal Life Insurance (PLI)

  • Started in 1834
PLI plans Rural PLI (RPLI) plans
  1. Whole Life Assurance(SURAKSHA)
  2. Convertible Whole Life Assurance(SUVIDHA)
  3. Endowment Assurance(SANTOSH)
  4. Anticipated Endowment Assurance(SUMANGAL)
  5. Joint Life Assurance(YUGAL SURAKSHA)
  6. Children Policy
  1. Whole Life Assurance(GRAMA SURAKSHA)
  2. Convertible Whole Life Assurance(GRAMA SUVIDHA)
  3. Endowment Assurance(GRAMA SANTOSH)
  4. Anticipated Endowment Assurance(GRAMA SUMANGAL)
  5. Joint Life Assurance(GRAM PRIYA)
  6. Children Policy

Rural postal life insurance plans were launched based on recommendations of Malhotra Committee on Insurance Sector Reforms.

Philately

My Stamp

 brand name for personalized sheets of Commemorative Postage Stamps brought out by Department of Posts.

INPEX-2013

 In Feb 2013, MumbaiBy PHILATELIC CONGRESS OF INDIA, the apex body of Philately in India,and the active support of the Department of Post

Stamps released in 2012, 13 will be covered in a separate article soon.

Post: 12th five year plan: goals/objectives

  • The India Post has more than 1.5 lakh post offices and its reach in the rural India is unmatched. This network spread should be leveraged to provide services to the residents: including e-commerce, banking and financial services.
  • The Indian Postal Office Act 1898 needs to be replaced with a new act keeping in line with the latest trends
  • IT Induction and Modernization
  • implement ‘Sevottam’—a Service Delivery Excellence Model and Quality Certification.

#transport

  • The department of post has to pay lot money to Railways because
  • Railways charges passenger fares for RMS wagons instead of freight charges.
  • Railways also leads to abnormal delay in post delivery and negative customer reaction.
  • Under 12th FYP,  for short distance hauls, use of outsourced/departmental vehicles will proposed instead of railways.

#financial services

  • setting up Post Bank of India with Processing centres and Customer Call centres, Automatic Teller Machine network  etc.
  • new products such as ULIPS and Group policies which will benefit the masses especially in rural areas will also be introduced.
  • payment of online premium of policies via use of hand held devices by PLI/RPLI Sales force and operators.

#social sector

  • link different local and community institutions such as Aanganwadis and SHGs with postal department.
  • Postal personnel to provide information like weather, agro-prices, farm management and facilitate sale/distribution of farm inputs to the farmer right at his doorstep.
  • deliver social security services and to enable last mile connectivity

Timeline: Postal services

1766 Postal system established in India (Clive)
1774 Calcutta GPO under a postmaster general. (Hastings)
1840 World’s first adhesive postal stamp: Penny black (UK)
1972 PINCODE system in India
1986 Speed Post
1997 Business Post
2003 ECS
2004 ePost
2006 iMO
2008 Project Arrow
2008 eMO
2011 My Stamp

Mock Questions

  1. What is the correct chronological order in which following services were setup by the British in India? (older to newer)
    1. Post, telecom, railways
    2. railways, post, telecom
    3. post, railways, telecom
    4. none of above
  2. Who established Calcutta GPO?
    1. Clive
    2. Curzon
    3. Hastings
    4. None of Above
  3. Who established postal system in India?
    1. Clive
    2. Curzon
    3. Hastings
    4. None of Above
  4. Department of Posts falls under Ministry of
    1. Telecommunication
    2. Home
    3. Communication and IT
    4. It is an independent department directly under PM
  5. Last three digits of a PIN code indicate
    1. name of the delivery post office
    2. name of the district
    3. name of the state
    4. name of the region
  6. Which of the following is a 1st class mail?
    1. registered newspapers
    2. Inland letters
    3. periodicals
    4. none of above
  7. National Address Database Management System falls under
    1. UID
    2. Home Ministry
    3. Nation Population register
    4. Department of Post
  8. Who gathers data for computation of Rural Consumer price index?
    1. Department of Panchayati Raj
    2. Department of Post
    3. ASHA worker
    4. Gram Sabha
  9. Meghdoot Millennium is a
    1. special speed post service of Postal Department
    2. software used by Postal Department
    3. vision document of Postal department
    4. citizen’s charter made by Postal department
  10. Project Arrow is meant for
    1. Rural post offices
    2. urban post offices
    3. both
    4. none
  11. Post offices sell gold coins, in collaboration with
    1. Muthoot Finance
    2. World Gold Council
    3. Both
    4. None
  12. INPEX 2013 was an exhibition for
    1. Pravasi Bharatiyas
    2. postal stamps
    3. Pottery and handicraft
    4. None of above
  13. Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Academy in Gaziabad is associated with
    1. Department of Post
    2. Department of Income Tax
    3. Department of Telecom
    4. None of above
  14. Maximum amount that can be sent via single money order?
    1. 2000
    2. 5000
    3. 50000
    4. None of above
  15. Maximum amount that can be sent via single iMO?
    1. 2000
    2. 5000
    3. 50000
    4. None of above
  16. Department of Post provides international money transfer services with the help of
    1. Western Union
    2. Money Gram Payments
    3. Both
    4. None
  17. Suraksha, Santosh, Sumangal, Suvidha, Gram Priya are some of the insurance schemes offered by
    1. LIC
    2. Oriental insurance
    3. United India Insurance
    4. Department of Post