Department of Posts to join Eurogiro by October

Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology A. Raja on Sunday announced that the Department of Posts would join Eurogiro, a global network of banks and financial institutions, in October. This will enable direct money remittances through post offices.

Mr. Raja disclosed this at a function held at the Automatic Mail Processing Centre in Meenambakkam to mark the flagging off of three dedicated India Post freighter aircraft. Preliminary works on the Eurogiro project were completed and once the software testing was over, the project would be inaugurated in Chennai next month.
Once put in place, it would enable people to send money to their relatives and friends all over the world through electronic transfer in just one hour.

Pointing out that the department was among the few in the country that maintained its identity because it constantly re-invented and experimented, Mr. Raja said that the department was serving people through 1.5 lakh post offices in six lakh villages across the country.

Mr. Raja said the Ministry was planning to computerise all the post offices and had constituted a panel of experts to find out if they could be made Information Technology-enabled. The Prime Minister had given his nod for the project.

The committee was expected to submit its report in a couple of months, he said.

Modernisation of Automatic Mail Processing Centres in New Delhi and Kolkata at a cost of Rs. 65 crore would begin next month and would be completed in one year, he said.

On the India Post Freighter project, Mr. Raja said the Ministry had invested Rs. 511 crore in it over five years. The project would ensure faster delivery of mail and parcels to different parts of the country. It was first launched about three years ago to improve delivery of mails to the northeastern States, Mr. Raja recalled.

Sachin Pilot, Union Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology, said freighter aircraft were introduced to cover the northeastern States to ensure swift delivery of mail, including speed post, logistic post, perishable goods like flowers and fruits, between Kolkata and Agartala. Buoyed by its success, the Ministry had now chartered two more aircraft from Air India to extend the link between New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Bangalore, with Nagpur as the hub.

Mr. Pilot recalled that the department had relied on commercial airlines earlier, but it became difficult to ensure service quality due to lack of direct control. He recalled that night air mail service was introduced in 1949 by Communications Minister Rafi Ahmed Kidwai.

Radhika Doraiswamy, Secretary, Department of Posts, said each of the Boeing 737-200 aircraft could transport about 14 tonnes of mail.

The three aircraft would land at Nagpur for exchange of pallets (mail parcels), and would leave for their respective destinations one hour later.

She said IT major Accenture was the technology consultant for the Department. The Centre would earmark Rs. 2,000 crore for modernisation and computerisation of post offices, she added.

Mr. Raja also released a special cover with the special cancellation of the new freighter aircraft. The first copy was received by Mr. Pilot.

Manjula Prasher, Member, Operations, and S.K. Chakrabarti, Chief Post Master General, Tamil Nadu Circle, spoke.