Post Office (PO)

Post Office (PO) is a unit of the Department of Posts (DoP) which has been the backbone of the country's communication. It has played a very important role in India's Social economic development.

Delivering mails, accepting deposits under small saving schemes, providing life insurance cover under Postal Life Insurance (PLI) and Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI), providing retail services like bill collection, sale of forms etc. are its basic functions.

DoP has total 1, 55,015 Post Office across the country which is the most widely distributed postal network in the world. It is headquartered in New Delhi. Shri Manoj Sinha is the current minister of state.

Post Office History:

Indian Post has been founded in April 01, 1764 under the department under ministry of communications of the government of India. At time of British Raj, a number of acts were enacted:

a) The government savings bank act 1873

b) Postal life insurance began in February 1884 as a welfare measure for the employees of the posts & telegraph departments

c) Telegraph act, 1885

d) The Indian post office act 1898

e) The Indian wireless telegraphy act 1933

Services:

a) Philately: Designing, printing and distribution of special postage stamps.

b) Army Postal Service: It functions as a government-operated military mail system in India. APS ensure that military mail posted between duty stations abroad and the home country does not cost the sender.

c) Electronic Indian Postal Order: It is used for online payments of fees for access to information under RTI act of 2005.

d) Postal Life Insurance: It provide life insurance cover to Central and State Government, Public Sector undertakings, Universities, government aided educational institutions, nationalized banks, local bodies, autonomous bodes and staff of the defense and papa- military forces.

e) Postal Savings: It provides savings plan like recurring deposit account, sukanya samriddhi account, national savings certificate, kisan vikas patra, public provident fund, monthly income plans etc.

f) Data Collection: It has enabled the consumer-price indices for rural areas.

g) Banking: It has independent banking service named Post Bank of India to become more connected digitally.

h) E- Commerce Delivery: India Post has partnered with major e-commerce portals for delivering prepaid as well as cash on delivery parcels. It has set up 57 delivery centers to handle the e-commerce traffic.

Other Services includes Post Boxes and Post bags for mail receipts, Identity cards for proof of residence, ATM, Railway Mail Service and Post Office Passport Seva Kendra.

Core Values and Strategic Goals:

DOP demonstrate the highest order of integrity, honesty, transparency and professionalism. DoP's goal is to develop, implement and operate a system of standards with accountability for performance and to develop a scalable and flexible technology infrastructure.

Vision and Mission:

DoP's mission and vision is to sustain its position as the largest postal network in the world touching the lives of every citizen in the country.

To read more about Post Office - click here