Revamp of India Post Office Act likely: Shakeel Ahmad

Kanpur, Nov 14: The Postal Ordinance Amendment Bill will be introduced in the coming session of Parliament said Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology Dr Shakeel Ahmad.

Speaking at a function to felicitate 10 postmen yesterday he said that the rights of postmen will be augmented by giving them more. Check and balances are also to be brought in place for the mushrooming privately managed courier and mobile services.

Emphasising on tailoring the century old Indian Posts Law 1898 vis-a-vis to suit the needs of the changing world, he dwelt on the need to increase the utilitarian value of the department.

The view was endorsed by the Union Minister of state for Home Affairs Shri Prakash Jaiswal, who was also present on the occassion.

The Department of Posts is the biggest postal service in the world having an enviable infrastucture comprising 1.55 Lac post offices followed by China with 1.11 Lac. An inkling of the extensive nature of network can be had from the fact that the money held by the postal banks is more than the total amount in the nationalised banks.

The minister also indicated that the government is mulling levying a registration fee on courier services. He also drew attention to widening the scope of the services of the postal department owing to the mamoth infrastructure that it commands.

Enumerating the areas for further ramifications, he pointed out activities like verification of applicants for mobile companies, attestation of voters lists among a few.

UNI