Visitors to ‘Pride of India’, particularly students, were excited to witness a
variety of initiatives and services of Postal department. Recent initiatives
such as Rural Information and Communication Technology (RICT) and Postinfo, a
mobile application.
H
P Vinayak, a class nine student, said, he was unaware about a variety of
services that the Postal department offered. “I have never visited a post
office and did not know much about the facilities available. It offers a wide
range of services,” he said.
Like
him, a majority of the students were unaware about the services and facilities
available in the department. A majority of visitors to the stall were students,
with not much knowledge about the department. But, they were keen to know about
it, said G Kanchana, Assistant Manager, Centre for Excellence in Postal
Technology (CEPT), Mysuru.
Indian
Posts, Mysuru division, has displayed a variety of services with recent
upgrading. Of them, Postinfo and RICT were attracting the crowds.
With
the help of Postinfo, developed by the CEPT, one can easily locate a post
office, track containers and calculate insurance premium and interest provided
by the department to its customers. Besides, customers can track their mail
such as Speed Post, Registered Letter, Registered Parcel, Insured Parcel,
Business Parcel, Express Parcel and Electronic Money Order.
Customers
need to enter the article number to get the status of the service. The app also
provides the interest rate for different savings schemes like National Savings
Certificate, Kisan Vikas Patra and others. At present 70,000 customers across
the country are using the app. It can be downloaded from Google App store for
free.
In
a move to computerise all the post offices and to offer services at the
customers’ door steps, the department has introduced the RICT. The concept
offers a wide range of services and facilities, particularly for rural
citizens, including financial services, and disbursement of social security
schemes.
Through
the RICT, the department also aims to generate more revenue, by offering new
services to rural customers like collection of electricity and telephone bills,
booking of train tickets, etc. The RICT provides higher self-esteem for Gramin
Dak Sevaks, says Kanchana.
Through
the hand-held device, postal personnel are able to transact for core banking,
insurance and mail operations at the customers’ door steps. Regional language
support on the device and provision of solar panels for battery charging has
made the device unique, she added.
Source
:http://www.deccanherald.com/content/521828/postal-depts-postinfo-rict-services.html
