Government is firming up plans to
set up 650 branches of India Post Payments Bank at all major district
headquarters by September 2017, Telecom and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad
today said in a letter to all postal employees.
"The India Post Payments Bank
shall be set up with an investment of Rs 800 crore. The plan is to roll out 650
branches at all major district headquarters so that it may leverage the
extensive outreach of the Department of Posts," Prasad said in the letter.
The Cabinet on June 2 cleared the
proposal to set up India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) with a corpus of Rs 800
crore and a plan for 650 branches operational by September 2017. It will be
scaled up further to cover the entire country by the end of 2018-19.
"The Prime Minister has urged
that these 650 branches shall be made fully functional by September 2017,"
Prasad said.
DoP is gearing up to launch the
payments bank with a workforce of 3.5 lakh.
Prasad, in his letter, reached out
to all postal employees for support.
"I earnestly appeal to all
employees of the department and the Grameen Dak Sevaks to take pride and
ownership in establishing the India Post Payments Bank which truly serves the
cause of Antyodaya - serving the last man standing," he said.
He reasoned that the postman has a
vital emotional connect and is almost part of every family in villages.
"In coming days, the role of
all employees, including Grameen Dak Sevaks, will be very significant in
successful rollout of the Payments Bank to make financial inclusion possible
for every Indian," Prasad said.
DoP at present manages around 1.55
lakh post offices, of which about 1.3 lakh are in rural areas.
"I have no doubt in my mind
that given your capabilities and your whole-hearted co-operation, we can
accomplish the task. India Post has a footprint in every corner of the
country," Prasad said.
IPPB will offer digitally-enabled
payments, banking and remittance services of all kinds among entities and
individuals as also provide access to insurance, mutual funds, pension and
credit products in partnership with third-party financial service providers and
banks.
"IPPB is being set up primarily
to achieve the goal of full financial inclusion of the people in our country.
It shall be a technologically-enabled banking platform that gives a wide range
of services such as direct benefit transfers and all kinds of payments and
remittances," the minister added.
