Union minister for communications Jyotiraditya M Scindia on Thursday hailed India Post as the most extensive and far-reaching distribution network in the world. Addressing postal employees, he urged them to work towards turning India Post into the world’s largest logistics organisation.No other distribution channel in the world is as wide or as deep as India Post, Scindia said while addressing the Gramin Dak Sevaks Sammelan at K P Puttana Chetty Town Hall in Bengaluru. Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS), or village postal workers, he said, are the backbone of the country’s rural postal network.Highlighting India Post’s vast presence, he noted, “India post has 1.64 lakh points of presence, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, from Bharuch to Tawang.”Scindia stressed the importance of adapting to change, urging postal staff to embrace tools like handheld devices and DARPAN (Digital Advancement of Rural Post Office for A New India). “Today, we have the capability of becoming the largest logistics organisation in the world. No one has the human resources to be able to do this apart from us. But we’ve got to make sure that we are at the cutting edge. Which means we need to innovate. We need to think about productivity,” he said, as cited by PTI. The minister also emphasised that post offices must introduce new products and services to stay relevant in a changing world.“For example, we are now starting to work for mutual fund companies doing KYC norms for them.”The minister said a customer-centric India Post could only emerge if all 2.74 lakh employees work with dedication and passion. Scindia said India Post will receive substantial capital investment to upgrade its infrastructure and urged employees to play their part in driving this transformation.“We are going to become service-driven, and we are going to ensure that we transform ourselves from a cost centre into a profit centre for the Government of India,” he said. Scindia said he remains committed to ensuring post offices evolve into a gateway to the world for every common citizen. “Anything and everything that a citizen in our country needs, requires, wants, must be in our post offices,” he stated.During the Sammelan, 15 Gramin Dak Sevaks from across Karnataka were honoured for their exceptional service. Scindia reflected on his own childhood, recalling how he would wait eagerly at boarding school for letters from home.“My Grameen Dak Sevak transmits emotion from one human being to another in the form of the letter,” he said. “You cannot put a monetary value on that.”The event was presided over by Karnataka’s chief postmaster General K Prakash. Vandita Kaul, secretary of the department of Posts, and Manju Kumar, member of the postal services board, were also present.
