Requirement of taking prior permission for leaving station/headquarters from going abroad while on leave.

To view Department of Personnel & Training OM No.11013/8/2015--Estt.A-III dated 29-06-2015 please Click Here.

Central Government is considering to increase the eligibility limit of Bonus

Central Government is considering to increase the eligibility limit of bonus from 10000 to 21000.

According to media source, the Central is going to give a green signal to the much awaited decision to raise eligibility limit of bonus from Rs.10000 to 21000. And the calculation ceiling also hike from Rs.3,500 to Rs.7,000

Postal Information

The Department of Posts, which forms a part of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, is responsible for the planning, development, expansion of operation and maintenance of Postal Services in the country.  It also discharges certain agency functions in respect of Savings Bank and other Small Savings Schemes, collection of customs duty on Postal articles and disbursement of pension to Military and Railway pensioners, Family pension to Industrial Employees of Coal Mines etc. 

The Department administers Postal Life Insurance for the benefit of Postal, Telecom and other Central Govt. Employees and Employees of State Governments, Public Sector Undertakings, Nationalized Banks and Local bodies etc. Planning and Policy-making at Headquarters. The Postal Services Board is the apex management body of the Department, comprising the Chairman (who is also the Secretary, Department of Posts and Director General) and six Members.  The six members of the Board hold functional portfolios of Operations, Personnel,   PLI, HRD, Technology and Planning.  The Joint Secretary and Financial Advisor to the Department is a permanent invitee to the Board.  The Secretary, Postal Services Board, assists the Board.  Deputy Directors General, Directors and Assistant Directors General provide necessary support to the Board at the Headquarters. 

Postal Circles For providing postal services, the whole country has been divided  in to 22 Postal circles extending postal services to 30 States and 6 UTs. Each circle is co-terminus with a State except (i) the North Eastern Circle, which comprises six North Eastern States, (ii) Maharashtra circle which includes Goa, (iii) West Bengal Circle includes Sikkim and the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, (iv) Kerala circle includes the Union Territory of Lakshadweep and Mahe District of Puducherry (UT), (v) Punjab Circle includes the Union Territory of Chandigarh, (vi) Gujarat circle includes Daman, Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli (UT), (vii) Andhra Pradesh Circle includes  Telangana State and (viii) Tamil Nadu Circle includes Union Territory of Puducherry ( Except Mahe District).

 The Chief Postmaster General heads each Circle.  Each Circle is divided into Regions comprising groups of field units, called Divisions (Postal / RMS Divisions).  Each Region is headed by a Postmaster General.  In the Circles , DAP and Regions, there are other functional supporting logistics units like Circle Stamp Depots,  Postal Store Depots and Mail Motor Service.  

Army Postal Services Over and above these 22 Circles, the communication needs of the armed forces are catered to by the Base Circle.  Base Circle is headed by the Additional Director General, Army Postal Service.  The officer cadre of Army Postal Services is drawn on deputation from the Indian Postal Service.  75 % of the other ranks of the Army Postal Service are drawn from the Department of Posts and the remaining personnel are recruited by the Army. 

Operational Units:-There are 21 GPOs presently functioning in the country. They are:  Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh Circle), Guwahati (Assam Circle), Patna(Bihar), Delhi (Delhi), Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Ambala (Haryana), Shimla (Himachal Pradesh),Sri Nagar (Jammu& Kashmir), Ranchi (Jharkhand),Bangalore (Karnataka),Thiruvanantapuram (Kerala), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh),Mumbai (Maharashtra),Shillong(North East),Bhubaneswar Orissa), Chandigarh(Punjab), Jaipur (Rajasthan),Chennai(Tamil Nadu), Dehradun (Uttrakhand), Lucknow Uttar Pradesh) and Kolkata (West Bengal Circle).

[6/29/2015, 10:00 PM] Kausik chennai: Rafi Ahmed Kidwai National Postal Academy (RAKNPA), Ghaziabad is the Apex Training Institution and caters to the training needs of the managerial cadres of India Post. It conducts induction training of Indian Postal Service officers and mid-carrier training programmes for Indian Postal Service officers. It also conducts Induction Training for Gr.`B‟ officers besides some specialized need based training's on technology, Marketing and other fields of importance.  

There are six Postal Training Centers at Darbhanga, Guwahati, Madurai, Mysore, Saharanpur and Vadodra. These Training Centres cater to the training needs of Inspectorial cadre (Inspector Posts/Assistant Superintendents of Posts) and all Gr. `C‟ employees (Postal Assistants/Sorting Assistants. They also conduct induction training for the Inspector Posts and for Postal Assistants/Sorting Assistants. 

 383 Workplace Training Centres (WTCs) in circles are operational.  These WTCs cater to the training needs of various categories of staff near their work place.

There are also 5 Zonal Training Centres (ZTCs) which cater to training needs of the Postal Accounts Personnel. Engineering wing comprising of Architectural, Civil and Electrical Engineering disciplines is entrusted with design and construction of all Major & Minor building projects and maintenance of buildings in the Department.

Nalgonda Division bi-ennial conference on 28-6-2015

On 28-6-2015 the bi-ennial conference of NAPE Gr-c Nalgonda Division was held under the chairman ship of Sri Hemla Naik. Our Hyderabad Region RR Sri P.Yadagirgoud and Sri T.Ramaiah, Divisional Secretary Suryapet Division were attended the meeting and addressed the gathering. Sri Lokeshkumar and Sri Basha Naik were elected as Divisional President and Secretary respectively.  

RBI may give payment bank licence to Dept of Post in August: Prasad

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today said he expects Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to grant payment licence to the proposed Post Bank of India by August. 

This will enable the network of 1,54,000 post offices (including 1,30,000 rural post offices) to offer banking services to the masses in the country. 

“We expect RBI to give payment bank licence to post (department) in August,” Minister of Communications and IT Prasad said. 

In last one year, the Department of Post (DoP) has networked 27,215 post offices into one national unit through computers. 

The DoP, which has applied for a payment bank licence, has a hybrid model in mind to operate Post Bank of India. 

As per RBI guidelines, payment banks would offer a limited range of products such as demand deposits and remittances. 

They will not be allowed to undertake lending activities and will initially be restricted to holding a maximum balance of Rs. 1 lakh per individual customer. 

They will be allowed to issue ATM or debit cards as also other prepaid payment instruments, but not credit cards. 

According to a source, Prasad has approved hybrid model suggested by Ernst & Young which prepared detailed project report on Post Bank of India (PBI). 

“E&Y has come out with three models but suggested preference to a hybrid model. Under which about 600 branches will be directly operated by PBI staff in post office premises and transactions in other parts of the country will be supported by India post staff,” a post bank official said. 

Post Bank of India is proposed to have its own employees and IT infrastructure. The transaction handled by India Post, employees will be entered in to the server of PBI. 

The Department expects revenue of over Rs. 550 crore from PBI in first five years.
Source : The Hindu - Businessline

Public asked not to give tip to postal employees

The postmaster general of Chennai city region has appealed to the public not to pay cash to postal employees as a tip for receiving services from the department. 

CHENNAI: The postmaster general of Chennai city region has appealed to the public not to pay cash to postal employees as a tip for receiving services from the department. 

This practice is reportedly common among senior citizens when they receive their old age pension money orders. 

"Please refrain from paying baksheesh. If postal department employees adopt a practice of deducting some money and then paying you, do not accept," said a release issued by postmaster general (Chennai region) Mervin Alexander.  

Source:-The Times of India

Prosenjit Choudhury's film Dakbaksho a psychological thriller

Debutante director Prosenjit Choudhury's film Dakbaksho, a psychological thriller, revolves around an abandoned dakbaksho (mail box), in which someone suddenly starts posting suspicious letters.

Telegrams are history and even postal services are waiting for the death knell. In fact, communications have transformed drastically in recent years and so has the mindset of people. Debutante director Prosenjit Choudhury's film Dakbaksho hinges on this transformation. "Modes of communication have grown diverse in recent times, but I've always felt that people don't really communicate any longer," Prosenjit said, while revealing the plot of his film. A psychological thriller, the film revolves around an abandoned dakbaksho (mail box), in which someone suddenly starts posting letters.The content of these letters is suspicious, reeking of a murder conspiracy . The film will also see debutants Supriti Choudhury and Satrajit Sarkar in the lead. "The character I play is complex and I had to work really hard to bring out her various shades. I hope people like the film," Supriti said. 

Source:-The Times of India

Last date for submission of Union Decleration forms extended up to 6.8.2015

7th CPC News - 7th Pay Commission completes its task in the time frame of 18 months and finalization of the report is underway

7th Pay Commission completes its task in the time frame of 18 months and finalization of the report is underway

The 7th Central Pay Commission has published a report on its official portal yesterday in order to know all stake holders regarding their meetings and its report. 

It ensured that the 7th CPC report will be completed within the time frame of 18 months and it will not entertain any further meetings. 7th Pay Commission Report including revised Pay and Allowances for Central Government Employees, is on final stage.

The official report published by 7th CPC as follows...

“Further to the memoranda received from a variety of Organisations, Federations, Groups representing civil employees in the Government of India as also from the Defence Services, the Commission has had fruitful and wide ranging discussions on relevant issues with all stakeholders. Such interactions have now been concluded. Valuable inputs have been received and the work of compilation and finalization of the report is underway, so that the Commission completes its task in the time frame given to it. Accordingly, any future requests for meeting with the Commission will not be entertained”.

Source: http://7cpc.india.gov.in/

RE-VERIFICATION - 2015

FNPO and its affiliates appeal to the employees to opt for National Unions  and Associations affiliated to FNPO

1. National Unions were formed in the year 1968 leaving NFPTE re-leasing from the control of communist leadership.

2. Our beloved leader K.R. consolidated the unions. The policy of nationalization, political neutrality and trade union democracy attracted the employees.

3. FNPO settled many issues through negotiations in the periodical and Departmental Council Meetings.

4. It was alleged that we were pro-Government. We disapproved it by joining strike in 1993, 1996, 1998,
2000, 2005 and 2012.

5. We also lead many agitations.

6. We do not join the strike called by political parties.Why?

7. We are ready to join programmes exclusively for Postal & RMS employees.

8. We never succumb to the pressures of Department on schemes affecting staff interest.

9. Fast Track Promotion, MNOP and National Postal Policy, 2012 are typical examples. We never hesitate
to oppose wrong policies. The TaskForce Committee recommendations is on the table. The National Unions can only play vital role in opposing the above recommendations.

10. We are committed to improve the conditions of employees.Colleagues! Our goal should be to increase the membership of our existing recognized unions by 25% more and to secure recognition for the Unions /Associations who could not succeed earlier.

Aware! Arise! Organise!

Success is ours

Advance Congratulations

Feedback of NC JCM meeting with 7th Pay Commission

No.NC/JCM/2015

Dated: June 15, 2015

All Constituent Organisations of

National Council(JCM)

Dear Comrades,

As indicated in our last circular letter, the final meeting with the 7th CPC was hled on 9.6.2015. Earlier on 8th afternoon, the Staff side had met separately to chalk out the course of negotiations. The National JCA also met on the same day. The National Anomaly Committee met on 9th June, 2015 at 3.00 pm under the Chairmanship of Joint Secretary (E) Department of Personnel at Room No. 72 North Block, New Delhi. We give hereunder a brief synopsis of the discussions at all the meetings.

1. Meeting with 7thCPC

The following Staff Side members were present at the Meeting:- Com. M. Raghavaiah(Leader Staff Side – NFIR), Com. Shiva Gopal Mishra(Secretary, Staff Side-AIRF), Com. Guman Singh, Com. R.P. Bhatnagar and Com. B.C. Sharma(all from NFIR), Com. Rakhal Dasgupta, Com. J.R. Bhosale (AIRF),Com. KKN Kutty, Com. M.S. Raja and Com. M. Krishnan (from Confederation and NFPE), Com. Srikumar and Com. R.N. Pathak(from AIDEF) Com. Srinivasan and Com. Surjeet Singh( From INDWF).

(a) Date of Effect - The Chairman has made it clear that the Commission would recommend 1.1.2016 as the date of effect of their recommendations. The Commission would finalise its report by end of August and would submit the same to the Government thereafter. They would adopt Dr. Aykroyd formula for the computation of the Minmum wage. To the specific query made by the Staff Side, the Commission said that they would factor the probable increase In the rate of retail prices of the commodities and would arrive at the minimum wage as on 1.1.2016. There had been no reply to the loss of wages to the employees due to the erosion of the real value of wages as there was no interim relief or benefit accrued from the merger of DA. These demands, therefore, stand rejected.

 (b) Increase in the insurance coverage in cases of death in harness - The Staff Side recalled the assurance held out by the Commission earlier to have the actuarial assessed by an expert agency to accede to the demand of the staff side to increase the subscription and the insurance coverage. The Staff Side was of the opinion that their suggestion to share the subscription in the ratio of 3:7 was reasonable but in the absence of an expert study, the Government might not accept the same. The commission said that they would explore the possibility of such an assessment by the LIC before finalization of the report.

(c) Fitment Formula – The Commission might accept the suggestion made by the Staff Side in respect of fitment formula with requisite change in the ratio on the basis of the quantum of minimum wage determined.

 (d) In the matters of rate of increment, quantum of allowances etc. – The Commission did not come out clearly of their thinking in the matter.

 (e) Parity in Pension entitlement of the past and present pensioners – The Commission is yet to make up its mind on the suggestion made by the staff side in the matter. They however said that almost all the Pensioners organizations which met the Commission had pleaded for this and the same is linked with the one rank one pension demand of the Armed forces personnel.

 (f) MACP Scheme - The difficulties and anomalies pointed out by the Staff Side and various other organizations have been taken note of by the Commission. The Commission assured to evolve a methodology to resolve the problem.

 (g) Opposition to the induction of casual/daily rated workers and contractorisation - The Commission said that they were opposed to the unfair practice of exploitation of labour. For jobs which are of perennial and permanent character, regular workers must be recruited, the Commission added and that would obviate the need for outsourcing and contractorisation. Since most of the outsourced jobs do not require any academic qualification, the Commission was of the opinion that the revival of Group D cadre would help to address the issue. However, the Commission stated that if only the staff side sends in a communication in writing, the Commission would be able to make any recommendation in the matter. The Staff Side reiterated that they are totally opposed to outsourcing, induction of casual workers and contractorisation and the same has been made explicit in their memorandum.

 (h) Parity in the pay scales between the personnel in the Central Sectt and those in the subordinate establishments - The Commission stated that they have appreciated the stand taken by the Staff Side in the matter. The Commission was non committal on other issues raised by the Staff Side members.

 2. National Anomaly Committee meeting

 The meeting was held at Room No. 72 North Block, under the Chairmanship of J.S(E) Department of Personnel and Training. In the initial remarks, the Staff side raised the following issues.

(a)  Though the official side had promised to provide an action taken statement on all issues in the National Council, the same has not been supplied;

 (b) No date for the National Council is indicated.

 (c) No indication of the steps taken to convene the Departmental Councils. The official side had assured of the convening of the Departmental Council of the Ministry of Finance in the last meeting. However, the staff side has not been apprised of any date so far.

(d) Abnormal delay in replying to the references made to the Ministry of Finance, Department of Personnel from the Railways and other Ministries.

 (e) The necessity to increase the ceiling limit of the rebate in Incometax for the allowances given to the Loco Pilots.

 (f) Non-adherence to the GOI instructions by the Defence Ministry in certain matters.

 The Official Side stated that the Action taken Statement was almost ready but for certain comments from Certain departments. The same would be sent to the staff Side and another meeting held to discuss the course of action required on items where no agreement could be reached. The JS (per) stated that some of the references received from the Railways had been sent back to them for clarification before a final decision is taken. Regarding increase in the rebate ceiling under the Income tax Act, the matter would be referred to the revenue department and requested the staff side to appreciate that the same has to be considered in a wider perspective. Thereafter the agenda items, which had not been discussed even once were taken up.

(i) Anomaly in the Pay Band and Grade Pay assigned to the Group B Officers of the Audit, Income Tax, Accounts, Central Excise and Customs and Postal Departments. (Agenda Item No. 1 and 8 taken together.) Despite agreeing that there existed an anomaly in the matter, the official side expressed their inability to proceed further in the matter as the Group B Officers were beyond the ambit of the JCM scheme. However, they agreed that the Govt. would submit take up the issue specifically with the 7th CPC. Com. Shiva Gopal Mishra said that the Govt. must consider a JCM set up for the promote officers as their cases are not heard or discussed at any other forum. Com. Kutty said that the items were introduced as early as in 2009 and it was not correct on the part of the official side to state that the same would be referred to the 7th CPC. Normally the Pay Commission would not entertain to consider the anomalies of the earlier Commissions. However, after some discussions, it was concluded that the Govt. must take up the issue with the 7th CPC, in spite of the fact that the Commission has almost reached its concluding stage.

 (ii) Anomaly in the pay and Grade Pay of Data Processing Assistants Grade A.. The official side did not agree with the contention that the assigning of higher grade pay to certain categories of officers (7450-11500 and Grade Pay4600) was arbitrary. The Government, they added, had acted upon the recommendation of the 6th CPC. They also said that only in those cases where the pre-revised pay scales were in 6500-10500 such up-gradation had been made. In the case of DPA Grade A, they were in the pre revised scale of pay of Rs. 5500-9000.

 (iii) Item No.3. Grant of Grade pay of Rs. 4200 to Lab Technicians. The official side said that the orders have been issued in the matter.

 (iv) Item No.4. Up-gradation of Pay Band and Grade pay of LDCs and UDCs.

 The Staff Side made the following points in support of the item:-

(a) The Grade pay of Rs. 1900 assigned to LDCs by the 6th CPC was without any logic and without appreciating the existing vertical relativity between Group D and LDCs and LDCs and UDCs.

 (b) While creating the non functional grade in the grade pay of Rs. 4200 in the Central Secretariat, the Department of Personnel, which is the nodal department for all matters concerning the common categories, did not extend the benefit to the UDCs in the Subordinate offices.

 (c) The Staff side also pointed out the Department while restructuring the cadre of stenographers in the Central Sectt. earlier, had extended the benefit to all Stenographers in the subordinate offices.

 The official side stated that it was not possible for them to address the issue, whatever may be its justification in the background of the setting up of the 7th CPC. They however, assured to make a reference specifically to the Commission.

(v) Item No.5. Senior Clerks in DMS to be assigned grade pay of Rs. 4200. The matter was stated to be sub-judice. Staff Side, however, stated that, with the change in Recruitment Rules, they should brought at par with the Railways.

 (vi) Item No. 6 and 12. The two agenda items being identical were take up together. The Staff side pointed out the glaring discrimination in the matter. They also stated that the number of employees involved is very small. On behalf of the Postal Department it was stated that the recruitment qualification in the  Postal Department was VIII Standard and ITI whereas in other establishment, the academic qualification stipulated was X Standard. The Staff side contested the same pointing out that no person is entitled to be admitted to ITI without having X standard qualification. They pointed out that the merger of Artisan Grade I and Charge hand was the root cause of the problem. The official side took the stand that in any case the anomaly cannot be removed at this stage and have to wait till the 7th CPC recommendations are made.

 (vii) Item No. 7. Parity in pay scales between the Central Sectt. and subordinate offices. The official side said that the up-gradation of the pay scale of Central Sectt. Assistants were on well found grounds. The Government had considered the repercussion of the said decision and therefore, the decision is not possible to be either reversed or extended to any other category of employees. They added that perhaps the 7th CPC before whom the matter is already agitated by the employees organizations of the subordinate offices might take a decision in the matter.

 (viii) Item No. 9 and 10. Higher grade pay for Medical Assistants and Store keepers. The Defence Ministry was asked to submit a detailed note to the Ministry of Finance indicating the duties and responsibilities assigned as also the recruitment qualifications stipulated in the RR to enable them to reconsider the issue.

 (ix) Children Educational Allowance for any two children. The official side stated that the deviation made in identifying the eldest two children was consciously done taking into account the National Population policy and various other factors and is not likely to be changed. Regarding the claim for reimbursement of expenses incurred in the nursery class, as such institutions or classes are not linked to any Educational Boards, the official side said that they would look into the matter with a view to find a solution thereof.

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REVISION IN THE LIMIT OF MINIMUM BALANCE FOR ISSUANCE OF ATM/DEBIT CARDS TO POSB ACCOUNT HOLDERS

CENTRAL GOVT EMPLOYEES NEED FLEXIBLE WORKING HOURS TO REDUCE STRESS

Bio Metric Attendance System – Some Perspectives

Today, among the Central Government employees, the most discussed topics are 7th Pay commission, retirement age and bio metric attendance system.

When computers were introduced in the Central Government offices, it created a sense of apprehension. However, as days passed by, the employees began to experience the benefits of computers practically and started appreciating it. In the same way, the reforms of today's Central Government will be appreciated tomorrow by all employees.

The present attendance system of signing attendance registers and punching cards in various Central Government offices and factories leads to abuse and helps those who come late to the office habitually.
There cannot be a difference of opinion in the fact that every honest and sincere employee has to be punctual to work as far as possible.

At the same time, in our practical life, today's transport facility is in such a way that it only annoys us. Things like problematic familial context, heavily congested and jammed traffic, and the unexpected problems that occur during commuting make an employee to come late to office or factory.

Mostly, nobody likes to come late to work. When they come late, they have to leave the office late to compensate the time lost due to late arrival. For example, if an employee who has to come to office at 9:00 am comes at 9:25 am he has to leave the office that day only at 5:25 pm instead of 5:00 pm. When the office working hours is flexible by an hour, no employee will feel the stress.

Stress is the biggest enemy of man. Stress that affects us everyday leads to onset of various diseases even at an early age. Due to this, the work efficiency of employees decreases significantly. Family peace suffers and employees cannot work peacefully.

Hence, Central Government has to introduce some changes in the Bio Metric Attendance System.
Flexible working hours have to be given. The difference in work efficiencies between employees treated strictly and those that work flexibly will itself inform us which type of working style is better.

Observance of Punctuality in attendance by Central Govt Employess at all levels - DoPT guidelines to all nodal Ministries

Click here to view DoPT OM dated 22.06.2015 on the above subject matter.

RBI is expecting to grant Payment Licence to the Proposed Post Bank of India by July-2015

Union Minister for Information and Technology and Communications Ravi Shankar Prasad said rural post offices across the country will also function as common service centres (CSCs) providing e-services.

He said this while asserting that the postal department had a crucial role to play in bringing in digital revolution in the country.

Income tax returns: Government notifies new and simplified ITR forms

NEW DELHI: The Income Tax department has notified the new set of ITR forms, including a three-page simplified one, for taxpayers to file their returns for assessment year 2015-16. 

With the Finance Ministry publishing the gazette order yesterday, taxpayers and other entities can now file their Income Tax Returns (ITR) till August 31, the new deadline set in this regard by the government after it dropped the earlier forms which had attracted criticism for seeking numerous additional details like that of filers' foreign travel and about dormant bank accounts. 

The most simplified form, ITR-2A, to be filled by those individuals and HUFs who do not have income from either business, profession or by way of capital gains and do not hold foreign assets, only asks for the passport number of the tax-filer, with the words "if available". 

Filers now will have to declare only about the "total number of savings and current bank accounts" held by them "at any time during the previous year (excluding dormant accounts)." 

The form also has space to fill up the IFSC code of the bank and in an additional feature, tax filers have been given an option to indicate their bank accounts in which they would want their refund credited. 

The I-T department, in the new ITRs, has also sought the Aadhaar number of filers and has also given options for providing two email ids to it. 

"The inclusion of Aadhaar and emails are to ensure a regime of online ITR filing in the country," a senior official said. 

The department has also provided for an additional four-page schedule to this simplified form for those who wish to file anymore details, applicable in a case-to-case basis. 

In the ITR-2, for individuals and HUFs having income from business or profession, the form remains simple but they will have to declare if they hold any foreign assets abroad or have income from "any source outside India." 

The new ITRs have replaced the 14-page form that were notified earlier this year, triggering a major controversy with individuals, industrialists and MPs saying tax filing would become cumbersome as those forms had sought details including foreign trips and bank accounts details. 

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had ordered putting these forms on hold following the controversy. 

The last date for filing of the ITR has already been extended for this year to August 31. 

Also, in the new ITRs, an expat who is not an Indian citizen and is in India on business, employment or student visa, would not mandatorily be required to report the foreign assets acquired by him during the previous years when he was non-resident and if no income was derived from such assets during the relevant previous year.

Source:-The Economic Times

Rural post offices to provide online services: Ravi Shankar Prasad

KOLKATA: Union Minister for Information and Technology and Communications Ravi Shankar Prasad said rural post offices across the country will also function as common service centres (CSCs) providing e-services.

He said this while asserting that the postal department had a crucial role to play in bringing in digital revolution in the country.

"Our vision of digital India is to ensure that from a mason to barber to a tyre puncture repairer, all can access newer avenues of growth using communications equipment like a smart phone," said Prasad while inaugurating the revamped building of Bhowanipore post office here.

"We are also committed to developing e-commerce, e-education and e-health. This is the larger vision of digital India. And in this digital India initiative, rural post offices have a very crucial role to play.

"We have decided that all the 1.30 lakh rural post offices should also become common service centres (CSCs) to further provide services," the minister added.

Implemented under the National e-Governance Plan and formulated by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, the CSCs are ICT-enabled front end service delivery points at the village-level for delivery of government, financial, social and private sector services in the areas of agriculture, health, education, entertainment, FMCG products, banking, insurance, pension, utility payments etc.

Prasad said he expected the Reserve Bank of India to grant payment license to the proposed Post Bank of India by July.

"We expect to get the RBI nod by July. With 1,54,000 post offices the new initiative will usher in a financial revolution across the country," he said.

Hailing the services by the postal department, Prasad said it has done a business of Rs.500 crore in the year in e-commerce besides opening over 52 lakh accounts under the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojna receiving over Rs.1,000 in deposits.

"Whatever, be the decline in services, people still respect the Indian Railways and the postal services. I urge you all to build upon that respect and contribute towards the growth of the country," said Prasad, urging the employees to contribute towards the government's initiative to modernise the postal department.

Prasad also said state-run BSNL was also on the road to recovery.

"Now BSNL is running into losses in excess of Rs 8,000 crore. But in 2004, it earned a profit of Rs 10,000 crore. So we decided to revive it ... BSNL already has added 47 lakh new customers and its revenue has risen by 2%," he said.

The minister also said there would be 100 crore mobile connections in the country in next few years.

"In a country with a population of 125 crore, we now nearly 101 crore phone connections of which 98 crore are mobile phones. In the coming few years, we will have over 100 crore mobile phone connectivity across the country," Prasad said.

"Studies show that a country with more broadband connections has greater impact on the GDP growth.

"So we are bringing national optical fibre network connecting over 2.5 lakh gram panchayats across the country, we are bringing in broadband revolution," he added

Source:-The Times of India

Provisions of Income Tax Rebate in the deposits under "Sukanya Samriddhi Accounts" - SB Order No. 5/2015

To view please Click Here.

Department of Posts ( Postal Assistants and Sorting Assistant, Group C non-Gazetted ) Recruitment Rules, 2015

To view please Click Here.

Results of MTS Exam held on 07-06-2015

Result of MTS (Multi Tasking Staff) Direct Recruitment Examination held in AP Circle on 07-06-2015 (both AP and Telangana States) is announced today.Result is being updated division wise as when announced.

Click Here to view the details of selected candidates division wise.