Transforming
India Post in to a Citizen-Centric Organization
-
|
Bruhaspati Samal
Divisional
Secretary
AIPEU, Gr.-C, Bhubaneswar Division
|
With the aims at
creating a conducive and friendly work environment both for the staff and the
customers visiting the Post Offices and to upgrade and enhance the quality of
service in ‘core areas’ e.g. Mail delivery, Remittances both electronic and
manual and Postal Savings schemes, India Post conceived the Project Arrow in
April, 2008 under ‘Look & Feel Good’ concept providing all IT enabled
services through secure connectivity improving the service quality levels in
such core business areas. And further, to face the twin challenges of increasing competition and
continuing advances in communication technology and to provide the
best-in-class customer services, India Post has undertaken an end to end IT
Modernization Project in the year 2012 to equip itself with requisite modern
tools and technologies. With key objective to modernize and computerize all
Post Offices in the country including Branch Post Offices in rural areas, the
Project aims at transforming the DoP into a “Technology Enabled, Self-Reliant
Market Leader”. Due to the sincere and
devoted team efforts of its employees, particularly those working at the grass
root level, India Post could be able to implement all such projects
successfully to rise to the expectations of its customers and stakeholders
which resulted to win the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public
Administration for the year 2008-09 for its outstanding initiative “Project
Arrow – Transforming India Post”. It has also won Silver Medal for outstanding
performance in Citizen Centric Service Delivery under Mail Network Optimization
Project in the 16th National Conference on eGovernance held in New
Delhi from 11th to 12th February, 2013. And now we have
started performing better for which the Postal Services have beaten the revenue
targets three years in a row. "The revenue generation of Postal
Services is increasing every year and the targets for each coming year are
raised by the Government," Minister of Communications and IT Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a
written reply to the Lok Sabha on 7th July, 2014. The government had
set a revenue target of Rs 7,522.02 crore for the Postal Services in 2011-12,
while the Department registered revenue of Rs 7,899.40 crore. In the
year 2012-13, the revenue stood at Rs 9,366.50 crore against a target of Rs
8,762.75 crore and in 2013-14, the revenue stood at Rs 10,720.94 crore as
against the target of Rs 9,787.52 crore.
But this is not
sufficient. We want to be the best becoming more citizen-centric and that’s the
decision of the Hon’ble prime Minister of India. For the purpose, the Secretary
(Posts), vide her D O letter No. Secy. ( P ) / 06 / 2014, dated 5th
June, 2014 has already instructed for strict implementation of Hon’ble Prime
Minister of India’s decision to transform India Post into a citizen-centric
organization with clear focus on
effective delivery of services with minimum inconvenience to the citizens. It
has been instructed to avoid unnecessary paper works and take up telephone / eMail
mode to speed-up the decision making process, to improve the working
environment by weeding out the unserviceable furniture, equipment and old
records etc. and removing unnecessary signages, garbage condemned items etc
with clean and lean approach so that the office shall look like a business house
and lastly to focus on productivity and effectiveness reducing inconvenience to
the customers.
Generally
speaking, a citizen-centric organization delivers cost-effective, personalised
and relevant e-services for which a simple focus on the organisation is not at
all sufficient – it is the way in which the organisation mediates a critical
relationship between government and citizen that matters. It is not enough just
to implement organisational change. Change in itself will not guarantee
delivering services that deliver public value. We have to work on processes
that improve the trust of citizens in the Department. To make real progress on
transforming our services, we should aim to positively transform the
relationship between the Department and citizens since efficiency is mediated
via citizen use and public value into effectiveness. Efficiency is the
operation of the governance process in a way that continues to demonstrate cost
benefits; more for the same, the same for less. Effectiveness comes from the
use of efficient processes to construct service portfolios that deliver
individual and public value. Managing the transformation of efficiency into
effectiveness involves flexible organisational behaviour and relationship
management with citizens which just needs a change in our mindset.
Thus, implementation
of the above instructions of the Directorate to transform India Post into a
citizen centric organization just needs a change in our attitude at all levels and
nothing more. It is now noticed that most records having prescribed
preservation period of 18 months only are heaped in a corner of the Post Office
for more than 18 years even not only giving a very odd look of the interior
view but making the accommodation cramped. We people who are working with much
difficulty do not show any interest in weeding out such records. We often say,
Cleanliness is next to Godliness. Thus, truly speaking, this work actually needs
no instruction. It is a part of our daily routine work. Every record has its
own preservation period and every item has its own life to be condemned.
Directorate is so
serious on the issue that all Circle Heads have already been reminded vide
Directorate’s DO No.4/M(HRD)/2014-PO, dated 9th July, 2014 to have a
weekly monitoring ensuring all the Post Offices across the country cleaned up to
be spotless, presentable and welcoming. In the meantime, the drive is being
monitored by the Directorate through video conference and several teams are
moving throughout the nation for physical verification. The Directorate vide
its D O letter No.4/M(HRD)/2014-PO, dated 21st July, 2014 has already instructed that the
responsibility of maintaining the Post Office clean and presentable should be
with the head of the office and the same should be reflected in the memo of
Distribution of Work of each Post Office. As directed, the Circle heads shall
arrange to institute an award every month for one Post Office in each Division
which keeps the Post Office very clean, tidy and presentable.
Counter View :
Out of 154882 post
offices in toto as on 31.03.2014 (139182 post offices in rural areas and 15700
post offices in urban areas), only 4163 (2.68%) post offices are functioning in
Department’s own building and rest 97.32% are in rented buildings. Most of the Branch
Post Offices functioning in the rent free accommodations provided by the Gramin
Dak Sevaks are completely unsuitable and similarly the basic civil and
electrical works undertaken by the Department in many rented buildings owned by
private owners for computerization have been witnessed to be of sub-standard
nature. Thus cleanliness in such buildings is quite dependent both on the
cooperation of the private owners and the Department.
But
contradictorily, there is no budgetary provision to undertake this cleanliness
drive. Only Weeding out of old records and unserviceable furniture cannot make
the post office welcoming and presentable while the post offices are
functioning in cramped accommodations with disfigured racks / almirahs of
different colours and such other sub-standard furniture. But, as experienced,
the speed shown in weeding out records and selling unserviceable furniture by
the Department during the drive is not being reflected anywhere at least for minimum
white-washing / repairing of the P O buildings, repairing of slightly-damaged
furniture, supply of standard furniture, repainting of disfigured
racks/almirahs etc. For example, Bhubaneswar
Division has earned Rs.2,66,309/- by 31.07.2014 from the above sale. Had the authorities
been instructed to spend some amount for the purpose, most of the post offices
would have been more presentable and welcoming. Since, it is a continuous
process, the authorities should consider to make budgetary provision for the
post offices where required.
In
view of computerization of Post Office Savings Bank, the Department while modified
the procedural rules of Savings Bank vide S B Order No. 17/2009 ( Directorate’s
letter No. 76-01/09-SB, dated 08.12.2009 ) circulating
revised rules of POSB Manual, Vol. I, has clearly instructed that maintenance
of some limited number of records viz. For HOs - Stock Register (Rule–5), Long
Book (Rule–10), Ledger Card (Rule-13), Ledger Binder (Rule–16), Duplicate Card
(Rule–17) , Register of Index to Ledger Cards (Rule-18), Ledger Chart (Rule-18)
& Nomination Register ( Rule-18) and for SOs with SB-LAN – Long Book
(Rule-10) & Nomination Register (Rule-22) only are not required since already maintained in
the System Software. Nowhere, it has been instructed yet to discontinue other records
for which the
grass root level staff members, simultaneously with computerized works perform
the manual works in accordance with the rules and procedures of Postal Manuals
including POSB Manuals in the fear of disciplinary action since the Postal
Manuals have not yet been amended deleting the traditional clauses not required
after computerization. In case of any deviation, the so called disciplinary
authorities will go as per the rules for taking disciplinary action. But as experienced,
on the plea of cleanliness drive the SPMs/Postmasters are compelled to throw
away the ledgers and such other records not yet ordered to be discontinued.
This should be avoided at any cost.
It may also be
suggested that repairable items should be excluded from such sale. It is witnessed
that while the SPMs/Postmasters have no standard furniture in their offices,
such items with minor damages are being sold for negligible returns. Recently
furniture worth crores of rupees were supplied to RMS offices under MNOP which
compelled the authorities to drive away the usable furniture even. Delivery
staff in post offices are still sitting on broken plastic chairs and using
damaged sorting tables. A drive can also be taken for repairing such slightly
damaged furniture centrally and supply to needy offices. Consequent upon supply
of new computers, the surplus computers may be upgraded instead of sale and
supplied to the needy single/double-handed delivery post offices having only
one computer in the delivery branch against 10 to 12 beats.
Further, the look
and feel good concept now needs to go beyond Project Arrow and the concerned
authorities should be broad-minded in this regard allowing the grass root level
employees, especially the SPMs / Postmasters that much of freedom with
requisite administrative and financial approval to take an instant decision for
the betterment of their offices. Continuous correspondences and reminders need
to be avoided. It is often witnessed that hard copies are still asked even
after receipt of eMail which needs to be taken care of and the telephonic
request of the SPMs/Postmasters should be honoured instantly. Charity begins at
home. The order issuing authorities are to set the example first resulting the
tendency to flow downward automatically. A good employer-employee relationship
can only help to accelerate a good department-citizens relationship.
*****