Trade and industry keen to join hands with the Post Office

Post Office is a unique infrastructure, but there is a growing realisation that its potential is not fully utilised by the nation. How can the inherent value of the postal network be unlocked? How can the trade and industry make better use of this huge network profitably? And what should be the role of the Post Office in the 21^st century?

These were some of the issues that were deliberated upon in the round table interactions held by Kapil Sibal, the Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology with industry leaders in New Delhi on 4^th July,2011. 

The event, organized under the theme  “Partnering India Post: 2012 and Beyond”, saw captains of the banking, telecommunication, logistics and IT industries as well as representatives of business associations expressing  a wish to join hands with India Post to take their products to different sections of the population. There was a general appreciation that India Post with its vast network of 1.5 lakh Post-Offices and the large bouquet of services like mails, logistics, finance, deposits, insurance, savings and retailing, has the potential to play a vital role in accelerating economic growth. The deliberations threw up specific suggestions on the areas, methods and challenges for developing symbiotic relationships between the Post Office and key stakeholders. Some valuable inputs  came up for the Department of Posts to develop its future business model. The need for the integration of such a business model with the technological architecture of the Vision 2012 project - an ambitious programme of computerizing and digitally connecting the entire postal network - was highlighted.

Public sector banking institutions advocated  retailing of loan products, mutual funds and other novel financial products. Central  Ministries and state administrations suggested that post offices can be utilized to deliver social security plans as is being done successfully with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

Sachin Pilot,  Minister of State for Communications & IT, Government of India summarized the deliberations  at the end. He stated that the consultations show that Department of Posts belongs to all. The round table  should be a beginning for new endeavours, financial inclusion and opportunities for rural masses.

About seventy representatives of various Departments, PSUs, Banks and corporate world participated in the interactions.