The Parliamentary Consultative Committee for Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (C&IT) discussed ‘Rural Development through Post Offices: Endeavors and Initiatives’ here last evening.
The Meeting was chaired by Shri Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for C & IT and was attended by the two Ministers of State, Shri Sachin Pilot and Shri Milind Deora.
In his opening remarks, Shri Sibal said, the post office network offers tremendous potential to contribute towards development of rural areas and people of that area.The Minister said that Post office can be the centre of activity, be it communication, banking, insurance, remittance and retailing service. The fundamental focus of the Department of Posts (DoP) is to reach ‘Aam Aadmi.
Rural development generally refers to the process of improving quality of life and economic wellbeing of people living in relatively isolated and sparsely populated areas. Like any other development activity, development of rural areas require an adequate support of appropriate infrastructure.With its more than 139,000 Post Offices in rural areas, DoP provides support in various critical functions through communication, financial services, life insurance products and other retail services. Reach, credibility ,experience, trained manpower, time tested operating and accounting procedures put the post offices in unique position of being the most suitable vehicle for rural development. The rural Information Communication Technology(ICT) programme will further strengthen the delivery mechanism of all social security schemes, reduce the delay in payments and improve the quality and collection and sharing of information between Post Offices and State Governments. Encouraging Post Offices involvement in the activities of financial Members of Parliament, Shri P K Biju,Dr Vinay Kumar Pandey And Shri Shivraj Singh Lodhi, participating in the discussions commended the Ministry for staying focused on their work despite and urged to retain the glory and importance of Post Offices. The Members, however, emphasized that potential of the Indian Postal Network be used to the maximum to offer services and products to the common man in rural areas. They said employment generation in rural areas and improving the service hours and conditions of Gramin Dak Sewaks should be regarded important for revenue generation.
The Meeting was chaired by Shri Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for C & IT and was attended by the two Ministers of State, Shri Sachin Pilot and Shri Milind Deora.
In his opening remarks, Shri Sibal said, the post office network offers tremendous potential to contribute towards development of rural areas and people of that area.The Minister said that Post office can be the centre of activity, be it communication, banking, insurance, remittance and retailing service. The fundamental focus of the Department of Posts (DoP) is to reach ‘Aam Aadmi.
Rural development generally refers to the process of improving quality of life and economic wellbeing of people living in relatively isolated and sparsely populated areas. Like any other development activity, development of rural areas require an adequate support of appropriate infrastructure.With its more than 139,000 Post Offices in rural areas, DoP provides support in various critical functions through communication, financial services, life insurance products and other retail services. Reach, credibility ,experience, trained manpower, time tested operating and accounting procedures put the post offices in unique position of being the most suitable vehicle for rural development. The rural Information Communication Technology(ICT) programme will further strengthen the delivery mechanism of all social security schemes, reduce the delay in payments and improve the quality and collection and sharing of information between Post Offices and State Governments. Encouraging Post Offices involvement in the activities of financial Members of Parliament, Shri P K Biju,Dr Vinay Kumar Pandey And Shri Shivraj Singh Lodhi, participating in the discussions commended the Ministry for staying focused on their work despite and urged to retain the glory and importance of Post Offices. The Members, however, emphasized that potential of the Indian Postal Network be used to the maximum to offer services and products to the common man in rural areas. They said employment generation in rural areas and improving the service hours and conditions of Gramin Dak Sewaks should be regarded important for revenue generation.
