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Diminishing crowds at the post offices would
perhaps belie the contention that the post office is as vibrant as ever, but
then in an e-age, physical visibility is hardly a criterion. “The post office
is as important and as active as it was earlier,” reiterates Charles Lobo, Post
Master General Goa. “In the past ten years or so, personal mail has indeed been
replaced by telephones/mobiles. But this loss is offset by an increase in
commercial mail and e-commerce which is the main thrust of post offices today,”
he maintains. The fact that 1,56,000 post offices are still active in India is
a testimony to this. “Basically, physical transmission of mail is the USP of
the post office, but we have strengthened these capabilities with technology,”
he maintains.
Of the many new developments in this sector is
the rise of core banking. “All banks have gone in for core banking. Today their
central processing centres disburse all related paperwork to the customer
through the post office. Also, an increasing number of banks are availing of
the post office Speed Post services for this purpose,” he explains. To provide
a one-stop window for commercial mail, post offices have set in place many new
measures like bill collection/e-payments like those of BSNL, ATMs, core banking
centres, post office emails, electronic money orders, incoming money orders
through Western Union and Universal Postal Union’s international financial
services of which IPO is a member and the recent initiative of ‘my personalised
stamp’, among others.
The rise in speed post traffic is offset by a
new tracking system. “People can personally track the movement of the article
from the comfort of their own computer through our website www.indiapost.gov.in. Last year we
introduced tracking for registered articles as well. So the faith reposed in
speed post has increased its usage in recent years,” he states.
The rise of major players in the market like Flipkart, Amazon and Naaptol
has given rise to a commendable amount of e-commerce being routed through the
post offices. “There are literally thousands of items moving through these
companies who ship their goods through the post office. Most importantly,
because of e-commerce, cash on delivery and e-payments have become popular
now.”
And where has the postman gone? “He is still as much a revered figure today
as he was in the past. It depends on what type of service he provides,”
reassures Lobo.
Box:
World Post day is celebrated on October
9, to commemorate the establishment of Universal Postal Union (UPU) in 1874 in Bern, Switzerland and highlight the importance of the postal
services. It was declared World Post Day at the
1969 UPU Congress in Tokyo, Japan
