Wednesday, 22 June 2016

Friday, 17 June 2016

NEW LOOK FOR POSTMAN

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India Post has decided to go for a corporate makeover to keep up with the competition of logistics companies backed by the Indian e-commerce industry. The move has come after India Post decided to set up a payments bank, under which postmen will also be given smartphones and iPads, to make them able to compete with the technologically sound companies.
The boring khaki will be replaced with a colourful uniform and swanky baseball caps, most probably in the shades of teal, in a fabric which would be more comfortable for postmen and postwomen.
"The current uniform is a mix of 67% polyester and 33% viscose. It is durable and low-maintenance but extremely uncomfortable in our climate. Also, the material for the upper and lower is the same which is not practical," an official told ET. "On a normal day, a postman walks 20-25km with a bag of around 20kg. He needs something more breathable."


As per market researchers, the Indian logistics industry, which is pegged at $300 billion, will be growing at a compound annual rate of 12% by 2020, because of which even the e-commerce companies are taking a sincere consideration into the sector.

Thursday, 16 June 2016

India Post Equips Its Men With Handheld Devices For Taking Customers' Signatures

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Next time if your postman happens to ask you for your signature on a handheld device, don't think it's forgery. Postmen have actually been equipped with new tools to take down people's signatures and immediately upload the deliveries.

On Friday, chief postmaster general Ashok Kumar Dash announced that 'Pilot Postman Mobile Application' for real-time mail delivery has been initiated.

This move will cover speed post, registered letter, and registered parcels, among others. India Post has launched the app that will keep a tab on movement of your article to its destination.

"In Maharashtra Circle 18, postmen working at Bhandup east post office have been supplied with the smartphone loaded with Postman app, which has features of receiving the articles, obtaining e-signatures, uploading the data on the spot to the central server, etc," said Dash.

Once you 'ink' your signature on the smartphone, the details of delivery will be immediately uploaded to the central server, thereby, updating the records that the article has been delivered.

This system is similar to what's used by some of the private premium courier agencies, which update pick-up to delivery of any article on the palmtops.

The plan is to gradually increase the use of smartphones, but only after the results of the pilot project.

Meanwhile, an e-Commerce Parcel Processing Centre in Airoli is being developed on a plot of 4,000 sqmt. The complex would also house Airoli Post Office.

In Maharashtra, six locations have been identified for setting up of first year roll-out of India Post Payment Bank. This will be rolled out between January 2017 and March 2017. The six locations are Girgaum in Mumbai, Thane RS Sub-Office, Nagpur GPO, Cidco Colony in Aurangabad, Pune City Head Office and Satara Head Office.


Thursday, 9 June 2016

Wednesday, 8 June 2016

MYTHS AND FACTS OF CADRE RESTRUCTURE REGARDING PM CADRE

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Cadre restructure order was released from the Directorate to all the circles on 27.05.2016 for only the Group C cadre of Postal operative wing except RMS/SBCO/PM cadre. 

              Since nothing was mentioned about Postmaster cadre in the Cadre Restructure, there are so many myths are being circulated around all the corners of India about the Postmaster cadre restructure. To clarify the officials of Postmaster cadre official this post is published in Tamilnadu Blog.

Myth no 1
There is no Postmaster Cadre detail found in Cadre Restructure report. Hence no such proposal regarding to Postmaster Cadre.

Fact :
The data related to LSG/HSG II/HSG I/HSG I(NFG) posts before/after cadre restructure can be released one cadre by one cadre. Then only data clash won't be occurred. For example if Postal wing LSG number of Posts are clubbed with RMS wing LSG posts, then it would create much confusions while implementing the C.R. So only one cadre by one cadre Cadre restructure order can be released. PM Cadre related instructions shall also be awaiting and may be published shortly.


Myth no 2 :
Since B and C class offices are going to be functioning as LSG with G.P Rs2800/- PM Cadre shall also be placed in B and C class offices since they are getting the same grade pay Rs2800/-

Fact :
No way. Vide Para B of cadre restructure order dated 27.05.16, Norm based LSG posts shall be placed under G.P Rs4200/-. In the same way PM cadre was curved out from 33% norm based LSG posts, PM Cadre would also have been placed under the G.P of Rs4200/-

Myth no 3:
Here after new PM Cadre offices shall be identified from newly announced LSG offices i.e., B and C class offices

Fact :
As per the concept of Cadre restructure implementation, all the PA officials are vested with the opportunities to get the next grade pay before MACP after completion of required eligibility services without any stagnation. If so after 5 years service completed PA can get LSG promotion(B and C class offices SPM posts) and they will automatically be placed without any examination under the G.P Rs.2800. 

But PM cadre officials are placed after the due competitive examinations after 5 years PA service and wont be placed in the same scale of seniority post Grade Pay i.e., Rs.2800/- posted without examinations. Those who are getting the LSG posts after 5 years PA service seniority shall get Rs.2800 grade pay and those who are getting the posts after 5 years PA service and competitive examinations they may be placed under the G.P Rs.4200/-

Myth no 4
Increase in PM Grade I/II/III posts after cadre restructure

Fact :
Yes. PM 1, 2, 3 posts shall be increased as per the recruitment rules of Postmaster cadre in the manner of additional 33% of posts of HSG II, HSG I, HSG (NFG) posts. Required service eligibility may be fixed at Par with general line eligibility conditions.

Myth No 5
Future of Postmaster Cadre!!!

Fact :
At present examination promotional opportunities are very less at the department of Posts and here after the cadre restructure, Postmaster cadre examination will be attractive among the aspirants since without examination PA may get Rs 2800/- G.P after 5 years service and with examination PA may get Rs 4200/- G.P after 5 years service.

After the creation of PM cadre, post offices are running in very effective manner with regular and qualified incumbents, and in future many more charm and intellectual youngsters will opt this Postmaster cadre and department will function even more effective manner under the flagship projects like Payment Bank, Rural-ICT etc.,!!!


7th Pay Commission Award From July 1

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The new pay scale for all central government officials and employees under the 7th Pay Commission award will be implemented from July 1, 2016,sources said.


“The 7th Pay Commission award will be implemented after taking decision of the cabinet in light of recommendations made in the reports of the 7th Pay Commission and the recommendations Empowered Committee of Secretaries, which will be made on June 11″ he said in reply to our question.

The cabinet expects giving the 7th Pay Commission award to central government employees in the next month, The Prime Minister Narendra Modi will give his approval to the 7th Pay Commission award like he approved the proposal of extending the retirement age of all doctors of the Central Health Service to 65 years, creating a record of sorts by clearing the proposal in less than than 24 hours of receiving it from the Health Ministry, said a top PMO official on Tuesday asked not to be named because he was not authorized to release the information.

The Empowered Committee of Secretaries would scrutinise recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission on June 11 finally to make government able to announce the 7th Pay Commission award to implement from July 1, Finance Ministry official said.

Accordingly, the brightest diyas of coming Diwali will be lit outside houses of central government employees. For, when the rest of the world is reeling under the fear of losing jobs.

The 7th pay commission recommendations’ implementation could not have been timelier, some economic experts say. So when the world is plunging in recession, central government employees are busy counting their blessings along with the hard cash they will receive in August as arrears from January 2016.

The several central government establishments such as the railways, telecom, air force, army, CPWD, CRPF, DRDO, CISF, Income Tax, Survey of India, customs and excise, among others are in happy mood.

These would perhaps live up to the ‘happy and prosperous’ Diwali greeting. After all, they will get arrears as well as bonus ahead of festive season.

The 7th Pay Commission headed by Justice A K Mathur proposed the highest salary at Rs 250,000 and the lowest at Rs 18,000. The commission also recommended 14.27 per cent increase in basic pay, 23.55% overall increase in salary, allowances and pensions. The increase in allowances was recommended 63% while pension was proposed to rise 24%.

The previous Sixth Pay Commission had recommended a 20 per cent hike in basic pay which the government doubled while implementing it in 2008.

A 13 members Empowered Committee of Secretaries, led by cabinet Secretary P K Sinha was formed in January to review the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission before cabinet nod and the committee is likely to finalize its work on June 11.

The Empowered Committee of Secretaries is likely to reach the conclusion to propose 30 percent basic pay raise instead of 14.27 per cent, which was recommended by 7th Pay Commission. They are also mulling for doubling of existing rates of such allowances and advances, which has been recommended for abolition by the 7th Pay Commission, sources said.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will take the Empowered Committee of Secretaries’ proposal to the Union Cabinet for its approval in this month,” they said.

The new pay scales will be effective from January 1 for all central government employees.


Mobile App for mail delivery to be launched in Mumbai.

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Bhandup East PO has been selected as the first post office in Maharashtra for deploying the Postman Mobile Application (PMA), which enables the postmen to complete the capturing of mail delivery data in real time, using their mobile phones.

PMA is an Android based mobile App designed and developed by the Centre of Excellence in Postal Technology (CEPT), Mysore. It can be used by Postman and other delivery staff for delivering various postal articles including cash on delivery. It enables electronic capturing of delivery data by Postman and is also capable of obtaining acknowledgement of delivery.

The date, time and location are captured automatically the moment the article is delivered. This eliminates possibility of inaccurate capturing of the same during manual delivery. This also helps India Post to analyse delivery performance in a more realistic manner and improve transit time KPI.

Customers can track delivery of articles the moment they are delivered.

PMA supports popular services like Speed Post, Registered Letter, Registered Parcel, Electronic Money Order, and Cash on Delivery and delivery of articles to bulk customers.



A training programme for the post master and postmen on PMA was held at Bhandup East post office on 4th June 2016.  Prakash Shewale, Senior Superintendent of Post Offices led the session. The features of PMA were explained to the postmen, which was followed by a comprehensive demonstration and practical training.






CABINET APPROVES INDIA POST PAYMENTS BANK PROPOSAL

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Govt will set up 650 branches of the Postal Payments Bank by September 2017, says Ravi Shankar Prasad

            New Delhi: The government on Wednesday cleared a proposal to set up the India Post payments bank with a corpus of Rs.800 crore and has plans to have 650 branches operational by September 2017, telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

           
“The Cabinet has cleared proposal of postal payments bank. We have 1.54 lakh post offices of which 1.39 lakh are rural post offices. 650 branches of postal payments bank will be established in the country which will be linked to rural post offices,” Prasad said.

            The minister said the payments bank, which will be run by a chief executive officer, will be professionally managed and there will be a representation from various other government departments including the Department of Posts, Department of Expenditure, Department of Economic Services etc.

            “Total architecture of postal payments bank is of Rs 800 crore which will have Rs 400 crore equity and Rs 400 crore grant. By September 2017, all 650 branches of postal payments bank will become operational. This we had planned for three years but now we will be doing it in a year,” Prasad said.


            He said that all rural post offices will be given handheld devices by March 2017. “We are reinforcing it further. I have had discussion with my officers to give iPad and smartphones to postmen in urban post offices,” Prasad said. At present, there are 22,137 post offices with core banking facility compared to State Bank of India’s 1,666 branches.

Thursday, 2 June 2016

Tuesday, 31 May 2016

POSTMASTER EMBARKED ON A 300 MILE JOURNEY TO DELIVER AN ARTICLE

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        David Shepherd, 26, of Stratton, Cornwall, drove 50 miles and took four trains after realising he had forgotten to get it in the post.
The passport had to get to customer Hugh Munro in Rye, Sussex, by 09:00 BST the following day so that his planned visit to Amsterdam could go ahead.
Mr Shepherd said his instinct was to "keep the customer happy".
'VITAL' DELIVERY
Mr Munro was heading to the Dutch capital for a charity board meeting after stopping off at his sister's house in Rye.
Mr Shepherd, who has been postmaster at Stratton Store for 11 months, said: "I knew it was vital he had it.
"His neighbour brought it in. But it wasn't given to the postman at collection time, so I finished work at 7pm and drove to Exeter to catch the 1am train to London."
Mr Shepherd drove 50 miles to Exeter; caught the train to London Paddington; took the Tube to St Pancras; a further train to Ashford, Kent; and a final train to Rye.
He had just 15 minutes to deliver the passport before catching the train straight back, a journey which cost him more than £150.
Mr Shepherd said: "I just thought, 'I know the customer, I know it has to get there'. I didn't want to let him down."
Mr Munro said he was "amazed" to hear that Mr Shepherd had beaten him to his sister's house.
"It shows how dedicated he is," said Mr Munro. "Stratton is a fantastic place and David is a brilliant part of it.
"People keep stopping me in the street and asking if I've got my passport, though."
Mr Monro gave Mr Shepherd a bottle of champagne as a thank you for his efforts.
"If the Post Office has an award scheme for going above and beyond the call of duty, he should definitely receive recognition," Mr Munro added.


BAJAJ AUTO FINANCE ENTERED AGREEMENT WITH INDIA POST

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     Motorcycle finance company Bajaj Auto Finance has entered into an arrangement with post offices across India to enable buyers get information through brochures available at post offices, as well as apply for two-wheeler loans from the company.
Subsequently, customers can also make loan repayments by depositing money in post offices.
The project is being launched with Tamil Nadu as pilot/nodal office and the arrangement will initially be rolled out across 18 locations in the State, Bajaj Auto said in a statement.
Pradeep Srivastava, Executive Director, Bajaj Auto, said: “By joining up with India Post we intend to reach all our customers in the remotest corners of the country.”
Charles Lobo, Chief Postmaster General, TN Circle, India Post, said: “Bajaj has been one of the brands and names we have associated ourselves with for ages. We hope to take this initiative to great heights by delivering easy and convenient finance options to our customers through all our post offices.”
This arrangement shall initially be rolled out across the following 18 locations across Tamil Nadu  
1 CHENNAI 2 COIMBATORE 3 CHENGALPATTU 4 DHARMAPURI 5 DINDIGUL 6 ERODE 7 KUMBHAKONAM 8 MADURAI 9 NAGARCOIL 10 SALEM 11 SIVAKASI 12 TENKASI 13 THANJAVUR 14 THIRUVARUR 15 TIRUCHIRAPALLI 16 TIRUNELVELI 17 TIRUVALLUR 18 VELLORE 


INDIA POST TO DELIVER GANGA JAL

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India TV News Desk [Updated: 30 May 2016, 15:05:38]

New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government will soon launch a new initiative under which Indian post will deliver Gangajal at your door steps.

Addressing a press conference in the capital today, telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that he has instructed postal department to chalk out a plan to deliver gangajal at people's door stepsby using e-commerce platform.

He said the concerened department has assured him of proactive steps to address the cultural unperniing of people of India about Gangajal.

The Ganga water from Haridwar and Rishhikesh will be made available to the buyers.

The move is also seen as an effort to revive the ailing Indian postal service which has been on downward spiral in last few years.


CADRE RESTRUCTURING OF GROUP C EMPLOYEES :DEPT OF POST

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Sub: Cadre Restructuring of Group ’C’ employees in Department of Posts.

D.G. Post letter No. 25-04/2012-PE-I dated 27th May, 2016.

            The Cadre Restructuring of Group-C  employees of Department of Posts has been undertaken in consultation with Department of Expenditure , Ministry of Finance in pursuance of the approval concurrence of the Department  of Expenditure  vide ID No. 2(45)E.III Desk/2015 dated 12th May,2016 , a list at distribution of the posts containing the existing and revised posts  of Postal Assistants, Lower Selection  Grade, Higher Selection  Grade II & I and also a few HSG-I (Non-Functional Grade) is enclosed for implementation with the  following  instructions:

a)         The post of SPMs in Single  Handed  and Double Handed Post Offices  to the cadre of LSG posts (GP Rs.2800) shown in the  annexure now allotted to the Circle , will be placed in the Grade  Pay of Rs.2800/- in the Pay Band-I..
b)         The post of SPMs in Triple Handed Post Offices, in the extent of HSG-II  posts (GP4200) shown the annexure  now allotted  to the Circle and all other existing norms based LSG Posts in Post offices  will be placed in the Grade Pay of Rs.4200- in the Pay  Band-II. In no case, the total number of HSG-II posts shall exceed the number of posts allotted to the Circle.
C)        Existing  posts in HSG-II to the extent  of posts  now allotted  and shown in the annexure , will  be placed in the  Grade Pay of Rs.4600/- in the Pay  Band-II along with the existing  HSG-I Posts . Remaining HSG-II posts if any shall remain in the GP of Rs.4200 only. In no case, the total number of HSG-I posts shall exceed the number of posts allotted in the Circle.
d)         The Cadre Restructuring of these posts  are only in respect of the  posts from Postal Side  other  than the posts of RMS ., Circle and Regional Offices and SBCO Wings.
e)         If the revised number of posts is in excess of the existing strength of a particular grade the difference will be deemed as  newly sanctioned posts in that grade . Similarly, if the revised number of posts is in  a grade is less than the existing strength the number of posts equal to the difference  will be treated as having been  abolished in that grade.

 f)         The vacancies arising out of the restructuring will be filled up only from the amongst the official who fulfill the eligibility criteria  laid down in the recruitment rules  for the post.

g)         The new HSG-I (Non Functional  Grade)  with the grade  pay of Rs.4800/- is only  for those  who  are  senior  most  and completed  not less than a minimum service of 2 years  in HSG-I  subject to the  number of posts specified  for the Circle  in HSG-I (Non Functional  Grade) (for example  the number of NFG officials in AP Circle should never  exceed (17) after following usual procedure of non functional upgradation(s).

2.         These instructions will be effective from the date of issue of the orders. The actual benefit would however be admissible to the eligible officials from the date of actual promotion.

3.         Receipt of the order may be acknowledged. Immediate action initiated and compliance report sent at the earliest.
                                                                                   Sd/-
                                                                                                (Tarun Mittal)
                                                            Assistant Director General (PE-II)




The Salient features of the agreement are as follows :

1. Number of LSG posts will increase from 8 % to 22 %

2. Number of HSG II posts will increase from 2 % to 12 %

3. Number of HSG I posts will increase from 1.5 % to 4 %

4. After completion of 2 years in HSG I the official will be promoted to 4800 GP (Non-functional Basis)

5. The above proposal will be applicable to RMS, Circle Office and SBCO in the same ratio

6. Postman/Mail guard will get the same ratio of promotion.

1. The Post of SPM in Single and Double Handed Post offices will be placed under 2800/- Grade Pay ie All LSG and I MACP officials would man the offices.

2. The Post of SPM in Triple Handed and LSG Post offices will be placed under 4200/- Grade Pay ie All present HSG II / MACP II officials would man the offices and Posts.

3. The Post of HSG I and HSG II would be merged and placed under Grade Pay of 4600/- and be granted 4800/- on non functional basis after 4 Years.

4. The Post of Existing Postmaster Cadre officials will be modified in light of the same on approval of the Cadre Restructuring...

The Present Postmaster Grade -I Offices are likely to be placed under the Grade Pay of 4200/-

The Grade I Posts are likely to get ungraded to Grade II , creating wide opportunity for the Postmaster Cadre Official to get promoted to Grade II and Placed within the same division.

The Present Grade II offices are likely to be placed under 4600/- Grade Pay creating more number of offices for HSG I and II officials.

The Norms of the Postmaster Grade III Offices would be modified so as to identify 1/3rd of the merged HSG I and II for Postmaster Grade III.