Disbursements Through Post Offices

Departmental Employees 2,09,047 Gramin Dak Sevaks 2,57,856 Area per PO sq Km Population per PO 7184 Postal Network

Disbursement of Benefits Some disbursements through POSB accounts (MGNREGS, IGMSY ) while others either through POSB accounts or MOs (NSAP pensions ) MGNREGA wage disbursements through POs (Apr till date) – 95,931 POs (82,998 BOs, 12,342 SOs and 591 HOs) in 19 Postal Circles involved. Not involved in Delhi, J&K and TN Postal Circles – Rs 5584 cr disbursed - 53% of total disbursements (through 4.7 cr accounts - 54% of total accounts) Pension disbursements ( ) –64 lac accounts (Rs 984 cr disbursed) –4.4 cr MOs issued (Rs 2850cr disbursed)

Wage Disbursement Receipt of Wage List at HO Wage paid at BO Receipt of Wage List and Cheque at HO/ SO SO/ BO Authorised to make Payment and Cash Arranged N N Y N Y Y START STOP Rolling Fund Fund Available Cheque Cleared

Major Challenges Faced by POs Lack of security arrangements for conveyance of cash Rolling fund has not been provided in many districts Wage lists/pay orders are sent after considerable time Delay in clearance of cheques Non-availability of cash at bank branches Sudden increase of work at BO Largely manual operation Law and order problem in some areas Unlawful pressure at local level Absence of POs in some areas

Challenges Addressed by DOP Line limits made dynamic Withdrawal limit at BOs increased to Rs. 5,000 Cash balance at BOs increased and made dynamic Human resource strengthened for disbursement State Governments are being regularly requested for providing security for conveying cash.

Road Ahead Rural ICT – will improve efficiency – If the records of state Governments are computerized it would allow submission of wage bills electronically thus avoiding delay on this count, and synchronization of data between state Governments and post offices. – Biometric devices will improve transparency of transactions. – Workload at POs will be better managed – will facilitate better overall monitoring at local as well as at central levels Proposal for opening of Pos is being pursued

8 RFPs for IT Induction 8

Rural ICT Solution 9 Devices Net Book Handheld Computers Thermal Printer Biometric Scanner 2D Imager Smartcard / Mag Stripe Reader and Writer Rural ICT Solution Overview Digital Camera Solar Panel

Process for NREGA Payments 10 Central Application/ SDP State Government 3. Disbursements are carried out at various BOs 2. Information is pushed by the SDP to respective BO devices ….. Beneficiaries 4. Information on disbursements is sent back to the server 1. State Government sends electronic file with beneficiary details 5. Updated file is sent back to State Government

IT ENABLEMENT OF BOs Provision for ICT equipment Central data base Would address various challenges Fingerprint, card reading capability GPS enabled Voice guidance system Solar power

Rural ICT Project Timeline 12 QuartersQuarter 1Quarter 2Quarter 3Quarter 4Quarter 5Quarter 6Quarter 7Quarter 8 Months Rural ICT Application (RSI) Rural ICT Hardware (RH) Vendor Selection Roll Out Phase II Roll Out Phase I Roll Out Pilot Program Management of Roll out 3 months 4,000 BOs 5 months 45,000 BOs 9 months 81,000 BOs Vendor Selection Develop Application Current Stage Supply of MCDs Phase II Supply of MCDs Phase I Supply MCDs Pilot

Interim Solution Patch for electronic transfer of wage bills from State Govts to POs and its credit in electronic ledgers available Necessary MIS can be generated for State Govts However, it is not being implemented because electronic transfer of fund from bank accounts of State Govts to Govt accounts is not permitted

Thanks

Solution Empowers Rural India 15  Banking services for “un- banked” rural population  Availability of multiple channels for ease of transaction  Expedited distribution of insurance policies to 100 million rural customers  Personalized Smart cards for policy holders to enable paperless transactions  Electronic and Secure mode of money transfer into rural India  Confirmation of successful transfers through SMS  Focal point of delivery of all Social Security schemes of the State  Reduction in fraud and errors through biometric authentication  Online retail outlet to rural communities  Utility bill Payments (water, electricity,)  Phone top ups, rail ticket bookings  Last mile tracking  Streamline mail booking process by printing and scanning bar codes Mail Operations Postal Banking Retail Applications Money Order Transfer Rural Life Insurance Paying Social Security Schemes Rural ICT Enablement