By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, DEC 04, 2014: A Task force on leveraging the post offices network of the country among others has suggested setting up of three subsidiaries as a part of a holding company under the Postal Department under the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology for extending services in the fields of banking, insurance and e-commerce.  The Report of the Task Force headed by former Cabinet Secretary Shri T.S.R. Subramanian was submitted to the Minister for Communications and Information Technology Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad in New Delhi today.

In all five subsidiary companies will be called Strategic Business Units (SBU). Two other subsidiaries are for distribution of 3 rd party products and services like providing e-services for general public for bill collections and providing of application forms, documents and certificates on commercial basis. Another subsidiary is for delivery of government services like Aadhaar ration cards, Vikas patras, etc. on agency basis. It was also proposed that each SBU will have a separate independent board to operate commercially as a profit  centre. Each one of the SBU over the time may go for public participation through public issue. It was proposed that a new postal law may be enacted to give statutory basis for these operations.

After receiving the Report, Mr Ravi Shankar Prasad said that there will be a structured response to the recommendations of the Task Force on priority basis.  He said after  having felt the need to rediscover the potential of the postal department  in the country, he had made a request to the Prime Minister to which Mr Narendra Modi had readily responded by constituting this Task Force. He hoped that the vast connectivity of the Postal Department would be fully exploited to be a part of the e-commerce boom in the country. The Minister said that not a single employee of the postal department will be removed as a part of any reformation of the Department. He also said that there will not be undue increase in the price of the post card and other postal services that are mostly used by the poor.

Earlier the Chairman of the Task Force Mr. Subramanian said that as banking and financial services  are not available in most of over six  lakh villages of the country, it was felt that a ‘Post Bank of India' which is professionally organized should contribute for a financial inclusion of the rural poor.  He also hoped that there could be a creation of over five lakh new jobs over next 3-5 years.  He pointed out that State Governments are also keen on the prospects of implementation of the recommendations of this Task Force.