(a) whether any assistance from the private sector has been sought by the Government for setting up post offices in villages in the country including Maharashtra;
(b) if so, the details thereof along with the response received by the Government thereto; and
(c) the steps taken by the Government to set up post offices in all the villages of the country?
THE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)
(a) to (c) 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 (c) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.255 FOR 10th DECEMBER, 2014 REGARDING “POST OFFICES IN VILLAGES”.
(a) No, Madam.
(b) Does not arise in view of (a) above.
(c) Opening of new post offices by relocation and redeployment is an ongoing activity. This is taken up under Plan scheme subject to fulfillment of certain prescribed norms, availability of Plan support and manpower. The norms for opening of new post offices in different categories, are detailed at Annexure-I. The target for current financial year under Plan Scheme is to open 80 Gramin Dak Sewak Post Offices (GDSPOs) and 80 Sub-Post Offices (SOs) in the country including Maharashtra by redeployment and relocation. The Circle-wise physical targets and allocation of funds given to the Circles for the current financial year are given at Annexure-II.