Budget 2013: India post finds CBS proposal as a great developmental step

NEW DELHI: Union Budget of 2013-14 has come with a major development proposition for India post. Not only postal department big shots, but even small postal service agents are also happy with the announcement of Finance Minister.

"Government has initiated an ambitious IT driven project to modernize the postal network at a cost of Rs. 4,909 crore. Post offices will become part of the core banking solution and offer real time banking services. I propose to provide Rs. 32 crore for the project in 2013-14," said the FM in his budget speech.

Clear enough, the initiative will be a big shot in the arm of Indiapost that already is a major small savings service provider in India. "We are happy with the decision as we have been asking for this since long.

CBS will empower us to go full fledged in banking services," said Mr. John Samuel, Chief Post Master General of J & K who also plays a vital role in visualizing Indiapost's modernization and new business sector.

Although India post has always traditionally remained as a major agency facilitating small savings especially in rural areas, it was never allowed to initiate full-fledged banking services.

Moreover, manual operation of postal department versus electronic and cyber age core banking solution of all other banks have pushed Indiapost to back bench in providing financial services.

But, "Indiapost has 1.55 lakh establishments in India touching deepest interiors. This is almost double of total 83,000 establishments of all banks put together. With introduction of modernized services, now we will be able to contribute in a big way to GoI's targeted financial inclusion drive in India," said Mr. Samuel.

Beside the postal top brasses, "It is great for us too as now we can increase our service volume and earn even higher through postal services," said Mr. T K Das, a veteran postal savings agent.