India Post plans to upgrade facilities in Andamans

Port Blair, Mar 14 (UNI) India Post is all set to introduce speed post facilities in some remote Andaman and Nicobar islands to upgrade the postal facilities in the far-flung archipelago.

''Speed Post facilities will be introduced shortly at Betapur, Nancowire, Ferrargunj(Beachdera), Humfrigunj, Tirur(Herbertabad) and Bakultala Post offices of South and North Andaman,'' postal official Madhumita Das said here today.

She said that the department has in recent months introduced a number of new value-added services for the special needs of the Islands such as instant money order service, retailing of mutual funds, acceptance of income tax returns, extension of the benefits of Postal Life Insurance to cover the entire rural population of the islands, sale of judicial or non-judicial stamp papers through selected post offices, extension of savings bank facilities to 91 of its 101 post offices , provision of accident insurance to all SB/MIS/TD a/c holders, provision of international speed post facility to all its speed post booking counters, lowering of the rates of speed post to Rs 25/- for any destination in India for articles upto 50 gms.

Postal department is the second largest department in the Islands with its unit functioning in almost all the 38 inhabited islands of the remote Indian archipelago.

UNI