Rural post offices revamped into CSCs: Prasad

Stating that all quarters of society will be assured digitisation, a promise the current government intends to follow religiously under the ‘Digital India’ initiative, Union Minister for Information and Technology and Communications Ravi Shankar Prasad has announced the functioning of rural post offices across the country as common service centres (CSCs), providing e-services.

He asserted that the postal department had a crucial role 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 in Kolkata.

“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 among others.

The minister informed that 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 employees to contribute towards the government’s initiative to modernise the postal department.