727 more post offices to be upgraded
Dear Friends,
Department of Post is undertaking this exercise of renovating major post office as part of its Project Arrow and we were extremely happy that this renovation will provide opportunity to the the Deportment of Post, Govt. of India to make their Post offices being upgraded under this project accessible to diversity of users including those with reduced mobility and those with disabilities.
However, our recent experience indicates otherwise. A survey of the Post Office at Parliament Street in the heart of Delhi recently upgraded under project Arrow brings out that perhaps the component of access has not been given the priority that it deserved in light of legal mandate of Accessibility in Public Infrastructure. We are taking up this issue with the Department, so that it is addressed now before it is too late.
However, it would be a good economic sense to adhere to the Guidelines on Accessible and Barrier Free Infrastructure at the time of undertaking renovation projects of this magnitude so that the need of retrofitting at a future date is nipped in the bud and financial resources are used judiciously.
regards
Svayam Team
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India Post is giving a corporate look to 727 more post offices as part of its “Project Arrow
New Delhi: After upgrading 1,000 post offices across the country, India Post is giving a corporate look to 727 more with better services under one roof as part of its “Project Arrow”, Minister of State for Communications and IT Sachin Pilot says.
“The look and feel of these post offices will be different and these offices will be fully computerised with additional features like electronic funds transfer, instant money order and computerised banking services,” Pilot said.
“We picked some 1,000 post offices in 500 districts over the past year and spent Rs 160-odd crore. The look and feel, the aesthetics, the uniform have all changed. They are like a one-stop shop for people looking at a host of services,” he said.
“Once the atmosphere is more welcoming, footfalls will increase. And once the footfalls increase, more revenue will come in. And once more revenue comes in, it motivates our employees,” he added, reports IANS.
“We have started getting results as well. In the last quarter of 2009, these 1,000 post offices saw a 23-per cent jump in revenue,” the Minister said.
The government has around 150,000 post offices across the country and more than 450,000 people working out of them. The idea is to make these offices find ways to counter the loss of revenues on account of telecom, Internet and courier businesses.