Pune Postal Department Launches Overnight Delivery Of Mails, Extends Timing Of Booking Counters

Mubarak Ansari

Pune, 16th October 2021: Now India Post will deliver your mails within 24 hours in the Pune Postal Region which comprises the Pune, Satara, Solapur and Ahmednagar districts, informed Pune Region Postmaster General G Madhumita Das today.

These four districts are served by 2658 Post Offices of which 89% are in rural areas.

She further said, “Pune Postal Region has taken the initiative of running overnight dedicated mail schedules between major cities in the Pune Region, so that, mail booked anywhere in the Region, is delivered on the next day at major cities. In the next phase, we will be offering spare capacity in our Mail Motor Schedules (MMS) for transportation of essential goods to Government and Private Enterprises. In preparation for the same from today, all our MMS schedules will be monitored real-time using GPS tracking.”

Today on Mails day, Pune Postal Region also announced the extension of counter booking hours upto 8 pm in Pune GPO, 6 pm in Yerwada post office and Market Yard post office and 5.30 pm in Infotech Park post office (Hinjawadi) and Pimpri PF post office.  

“This is being done on popular demand and depending upon the response from the public, we will further extend booking hours in other post offices”, Das said.

Since its inception in 1854, the Department of Posts has been providing services across the length and breadth of the country.  

It serves everyone from the President of India to the last common man from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Kutch to Arunachal. 

The Post Office not only delivers mail but from the very beginning, it has been an important agent of financial inclusion in this country, when the term had yet not become fashionable. The Post Office introduced the first ever money transfer product in India – the iconic “Money Order” way back in 1880. The Post Office Small Savings Schemes are the oldest Savings Bank facilities provided to the common man in India since 1882.

The Post Office was also the first to introduce a Life Insurance scheme in the country under the banner – “Postal Life Insurance” (PLI) in 1884. For more than a century, the benefits under the scheme were available only to Postal Employees, which was then extended to other Government Employees.  

Recently, the benefits of PLI, which has the lowest premium rates in the market and provides the highest bonus compared to any other Life Insurance Company either in the public or private sector, have been extended to a large number of professional degree-holders, such as Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers, Chartered Accountants, Pharmacists, Nurses, Medical Personalities, Consultants, etc. Pune Postal Region has so far insured more than 10 Lacs lives under Postal Life Insurance (PLI) and Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI) schemes for a total live cover of Rs 7,900 Crores.

As the Postal Small Savings Scheme offers the highest interest rates compared to the similar products available from banks and has been a safe investment option for salaried and middle classes for generations.

India Post now has the largest CBS (core banking solution) platform in the world with all its 1,55,000 Post Offices connected in real-time for seamless banking transactions. The Post Office Savings Scheme continues to be popular.  

“Just to give an idea, this year alone, in Pune Postal Region, 81.28 Lakhs CBS transactions have been done in over nine lakhs accounts amounting to a deposit base of nearly Rs 7,300 Crore. Last year, Pune Region had opened more than 6.4 Lakhs new accounts”, Das said.

In 2018 India Post went one step forward and introduced a Fully Digital Bank – the “India Post Payments Bank (IPPB)”, which allows Paperless and Aadhaar-based account opening within three minutes, fully digital transactions that allow even non-IPPB account holders to withdraw or deposit cash into their bank accounts in any commercial bank through AePS, seamless fund transfer to and from any bank account, bill payments, EMI payments, donations etc. 

During the last one and half years, when the country faced stringent lockdown conditions and most service providers were unavailable, Pune Postal Region ran Special Mail Schedules to transport Diagnostic Kits from My Lab solutions, Medicines and Medical Equipments for both bulk purchasers as well as thousands of individual customers.   

“We also transported dry rations for migrant labourers, stuck in factories and industrial units. IPPB provided yeomen services to the public by providing doorstep cash withdrawal of about Rs 18,000 Crore pan India including payout of DBT transfers to the general public.  

The Post Office is increasingly becoming a single window for various Citizen-Centric Services. In Pune Region alone, 248 Aadhaar Centres in Post Offices have enrolled more than 42,000 Citizens since April-2020. Additionally, more than 5 Lakh Citizens have been provided with Aadhaar Updation services by Post Offices in the same period. Citizens have been served in Post Offices and also at their doorstep through IPPB. So popular has this service been that only last month, we have served more than 2.2 Lakhscustomers at their doorstep/in special camps”, she further informed.

Pune Postal Region has also set up eight Post Office Passport Sewa Kendras (POPSKs), where, more than 22,000 Passport Applications have been processed since April-2020. As many as 2,483 Post Offices have been earmarked as Common Service Centres (CSCs) and the Postmasters are being trained to provide various Citizen-Centric Services including Mobile Recharge, Bills Payments, Gas Booking and even the soon to be introduced Railway Ticket Booking through IRCTC. 

Pune Postal Region has also been on the lookout for encouraging sports in the country. “We undertook an e-Post Drive to congratulate our Olympic Medal Winners. 34,000 e-Post messages were booked by Citizens in Pune Region, which were printed and delivered to the Medal Winners at their residences. This will be a wonderful memory for them forever. We also commemorated India’s Olympic Wins in different disciplines through a Special Cover released on the occasion of the National Sports Day on 29th August 2021 at Deccan Gymkhana, Pune. Going forward, we are also looking to suitably commemorate India’s wins at the Paralympics 2020”, she added.  

During the ongoing National Postal Week from 11th to 17th October 2021, Pune Postal Region has opened 7899 accounts on 11th October – Savings Bank day procured 3267 Postal Life Insurance/Rural Postal Life Insurance policies on 12th October – PLI day, issued special covers/ cancellations, held workshops in schools on 13th October – Philately Day, done 3793 Aadhaar enrolment/updations on 14th October – Business Development day.  

The country is celebrating the 75th Year of its Independence as Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. On this occasion, the Department of Posts has taken the initiative of recognizing our Unsung Heroes. 

“In Pune Region, we have issued special cover/My Stamp honouring freedom fighters such as Shri Umaji Naik, Senapati Bapat and the Chapekar brothers. We have also commemorated various GI Tagged Products of this Region, such as Mahabaleshwar Strawberry, Waghya Ghevada, Solapur Pomegranate, Solapur Chaddar, Solapur Terry Towel, Mangalvedha Jowar etc. on Special Covers. Commemorative Postage Stamps have also been brought out on Martyrs of Solapur on 2.10.2021 and the Bi-Centenary of Deccan College, Pune on 6.10.2021. All of this has been possible only with the enthusiastic participation of our staff and staff unions.  

As our contribution towards “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” campaign of the Government of India, Pune Postal Region is undertaking a campaign for covering atleast 75,000 Girls less the age of 10 years under Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana in the remaining 75 days of the current calendar year. This scheme offers the highest interest rate available in any savings scheme viz 7.6%, provides tax benefits under Section 80C of IT Act and provides for a secure future for girls.  

We have reached out to the State Government, District Authorities, Chief Medical Officers, Zilla Parishads, Gram Panchayats, Other Government Institutions, NGOs, Aanganwadi, Asha Workers and Principals of Primary Schools to help us in this Campaign. We request support from all our friends in the media to help us reach out widely and achieve this goal of empowering the Girl Child”.