Another 383 post offices to be upgraded
By IANSTuesday, January 4, 2011
NEW DELHI - The government plans to upgrade another 383 post offices across the country to international standards under the ongoing “Project Arrow” of the department of posts, Minister of State for Communications Sachin Pilot said Tuesday.
These upgraded post offices would offer services such as electronic and instant money orders and financial products such as bank accounts and postal life insurance.
The 383 post offices would be in addition to the 1,000 post offices which have already been upgraded. Pilot said out of the 383 post offices, 80 based in Tamil Nadu will be inaugurated shortly, a statement issued by his office said.
He announced this while reviewing the operations of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL), department of posts, department of information technology and National Informatics Centre on a visit to Tamil Nadu.
Pilot also stressed on improvement of the quality of service to ensure that mobile services were delivered in the remotest locations.
He added that the BSNL had 74 lakh mobile phone subscribers in the state, out of which over 14 lakh were in Chennai.
“The 3G services have already been commercially launched in 52 areas across the state,” he said.
The minister said that an incentive-linked marketing push was vital for increasing the penetration of broadband services. These services would be delivered to rural areas through WiMAX technology which enables high speed wireless internet.
Speaking on e-governance, Pilot said that the government was contributing Rs.97.17 crore for setting up a network in Tamil Nadu and Rs.55.8 crore for a state data centre.
