THE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND DISINVESTMENT (ARUN SHOURIE)
(a) to (d) A statement is laid on the Table of the
House.
STATEMENT TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE OF THE LOK SABHA IN
RESPECT OF PARTS (a) TO (d) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION
NO. 235 FOR 17TH DECEMBER, 2003 REGARDING CLOSURE OF POST
OFFICES.
Post Offices provide a variety of services in terms of
various categories of mails as well as financial and
insurance services. While the traffic in some areas has
reduced, workload in others has increased.
Studies are undertaken periodically to assess the
manpower requirement in post offices by carrying out review
of establishment of post offices, based on approved work
norms to make necessary adjustments in deployment of staff.
On occasion Post Offices are closed down for varying
reasons such as non-availability of suitable accommodation,
the need to rationalize the existing network for optimising
available resources, without affecting access to postal
facilities, and to redeploy in newly developed urban areas
those unviable offices located in close proximity to other
post offices. Details of post offices closed down during the
last three years is given in the Annexure.
Department has introduced a number of premium, value
added services and financial services to cater to the
emerging needs of customers. Efforts are being made to
exploit the retailing strength of the postal network by
introducing more products and services besides rationalizing
the existing network and introducing more cost effective
means of providing postal services.
ANNEXURE
Number of Post Offices closed during the last three years
S. Name of Circle 2000- 2001- 2002-
No. 2001 2002 2003
1. Andhra Pradesh Nil 2 2
2. Assam Nil Nil Nil
3. Bihar Nil Nil Nil
4. Chhattisgarh Nil 1 Nil
5. Delhi Nil Nil 4
6. Gujarat 1 6 1
7 Haryana Nil 2 Nil
8. Himachal Pradesh Nil Nil Nil
9. Jammu & Kashmir Nil Nil Nil
10. Jharkhand Nil Nil Nil
11. Karnataka 1 9 2
12. Kerala 1 1 Nil
13. Madhya Pradesh Nil Nil 9
14. Maharashtra 2 Nil 17
15. North East Nil Nil Nil
16. Orissa Nil Nil 4
17. Punjab 2 4 Nil
18. Rajasthan Nil 6 4
19. Tamil Nadu 1 1 2
20. Uttar Pradesh Nil 1 Nil
21. Uttaranchal Nil Nil 1
22. West Bengal Nil Nil Nil
Total 8 33 46
