Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today said the Centre plans to launch Postal Payments Bank in September with the aim to make it the world’s largest bank.
“I had plans to launch the proposed Postal Payments Bank, which can be described as moving ATM, in next three years but when the proposal was taken up in the cabinet, I was asked to introduce it by September 17,” the Union Telecommunication and IT Minister said at a Vikas Parv function here.
The minister said the officials of the department have been directed to initiate necessary steps to launch it by September 16/17.
The proposed bank will be introduced in 650 districts across the country, he said, “we have plans to introduce in 1.30 lakh post offices in the rural belts”.
The Postal Payments Bank will provide banking services, insurance, third party delivery, collection of EMIs in rural pockets, he said, adding that the officials are being trained like professionals to make it a success.
“Can you imagine where we are taking the postal department?” he said.
Worlds top 50 banks including Deutsche Bank of Germany, Barclays of England, Citi Bank of USA and World Bank wanted to link themselves with postal department which has a vast network.
“I have asked the officials and employees to march with speed to achieve the target,” he said, claiming that our target was to make Postal Payments Bank the worlds largest bank.
Hitting out the previous government for failing to improve the condition of public sector unit BSNL and Postal Department during its tenure, Prasad said everything remained unchanged including the infrastructure and officials, “but our one-year hard work seemed to have paid dividends and brought both BSNL and Postal Department out from Red”.
Soon after assuming the office of Telecommunication and Postal departments, Prasad said he held a meeting with the officials of the department and instructed to improve the condition of BSNL and Postal department.
After one-year of hard-work, he said Speed Post of the Postal department has been adjudged the “best courier service” which also recorded 12 per cent increase in revenue generation.
“Altogether, we have 1.54 lakh post offices including 1.30 lakh operating in rural pockets of the country and taken an initiative to promote e-commerce in the postal department,” he said.
The outcome of the initiative was that e-commerce is today growing by 68 per cent and parcel revenue, which was down by 1 percent in 2013-14, had recorded a growth of 45 percent in 14-15 and 80 per cent in 2015-16.