From having seamlessly played the ubiquitous role of the country’s main communication channel for decades to now being a major conduit for driving financial inclusion the country’s Dhakia (as famously referred to) India Post has come a long way.
It is a well-known fact that no other medium can match the sheer expanse of India Post in terms of volume and reach which was for ages considered to be the country’s communication backbone.
Over the last decade or so India post has had to swiftly adapt to keep pace with rampantly evolving technology and diversify from its traditional services i.e. inland letters, post cards to citizen centric service offerings that are more in tune with today’s day and age.
The department of posts has transformed into a financial services behemoth offering important services like Savings bank, life insurance, payments bank etc. In addition it offers citizen centric services like Aadhar updation, Post office passport seva Kendras, India Post passenger reservation system and many more.
‘The reason why this 160-year-old organization is still relevant in today’s day and age is that we had diversified from our traditional offerings and adopted technology in a big way.
Under the able leadership of our Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi India Post has seen a huge transformation in the last decade or so’ said Mr DSVR Murthy, Post Master General (PMG), Vijayawada (with additional charge of Visakhapatnam) speaking exclusively to Vizag Industrial Scan.
Andhra Pradesh
India post’s role in the state of Andhra Pradesh is no different than it is in other states i.e. executing the role of a trustworthy and secure channel for postal communication and now more importantly driving financial inclusion to the remotest parts of the state.
India Post in AP is divided into 3 regions i.e Vijayawada, Kurnool and Visakhapatnam. In terms of numbers there are a total of 10,671 post offices in AP which include 57 head post offices, 1514 sub post offices and 9100 branch post offices.
Of the total 10, 671 post offices Vijayawada has the highest no of post offices at 4158 followed by Kurnool at 3431 and the Vizag region with 3082. It is through the 10, 671 post offices/channels that India post serves the 22,767 vill- ages in Andhra Pradesh.
Financial Services- Post office Saving Bank
Under this scheme India Post offers a wide range of financial services to the rural and urban people in AP such as the Post office savings bank account wherein it has opened a total of 1.72 crore live accounts.
There are also the Mahila samman savings certificates which are exclusively for women and girl children, under this scheme a maximum of Rs 2 lakhs can be taken as fixed deposits. The AP circle of the department of Posts has issued a total of 154006 certificates as of June 2024.
Then there is the savings certificate (NSC/KVP) in which Indian post has issued a total of 22, 93,414 savings certificates across AP.
Under the POSB/SC vertical Indian post AP circle garnered revenue of Rs 426 crores for the last fiscal.
Life Insurance
In terms of life insurance India Post has been playing a mammoth role in securing people’s hard-earned money by arming them with much needed Life Insurance cover.
As of June 2024, there were a total of 748, 594 live postal life insurances and a total of 78, 85, 430 rural post life insurances in the AP circle.
The total premium registered for both PLI and RPLI stood at Rs 1043.41 crores for Financial Year 2024.
Citizen Centric Services
In addition to the above there are also a slew of citizen centric services India Post offers such as Aadhar enrolment/updation centres, Post Office Passport Seva Kendra, India Post passenger reservation system (IPPRS) wherein railway tickets are provided to the door step of the rural public.
Dak Chaupal: Bringing services to rural doorsteps
Under this initiative India Post aims to bring essential government and citizen-centric services directly to rural areas, improving accessibility and convenience.
