Bridging the divide

With the internet spreading its all encompassing wings in India, the Union communications ministry is girding up to unroll an ambitious modernisation programme for post offices. Officials say the plan aims to provide web connectivity to all post offices in the country by 2012-13. Post offices in rural areas are main target as the government seeks to extend the reach of information and communication technology to India’s hinterland.

The phenomenal growth of online enthusiasts made possible by the lead penetration of computers and growing internet connectivity even in the remote interiors, has convinced the minister for communications and information technology Kapil Sibal to reach out for the skies.

“All departmental post offices and branch post offices in the country would be provided with network connectivity by 2012-13 under the India Post Technology Project 2012,” Sibal announced recently. With some 22,360 post offices already armed with computers, the task appears to be not insurmountable. Some experts point out that up gradation of technological infrastructure of post offices, when it happens, would be a major job accomplished.

Which is not surprising considering that a large number of internet users are in the age group of 21 to 40 years and a majority of them come from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, states which top in internet use. In addition, the use of mobile phones has also risen sharply with an increasing number of people, mainly youngsters, accessing internet through mobile.

As part of the India Post Technology Project (IPTP) 2012, the modernisation of the postal department will benefit rural Indians who regularly use post offices. Also, information and communication technology (ICT) devices will be provided to rural post offices.

A senior official posted to a New Delhi post office expects the change to be nothing short of revolutionary. “Once implemented, it would be like a banking system.” Others too agree that the services would improve immensely. Says activist Gopal Krishna, a resident of Vasant Kunj, “Postal services will improve with telecommunication connectivity.”

Some regular users say the lack of networking in post offices has hampered their smooth functioning. For them efficient computerisation and e-connectivity are the only options. The million dollar question, however, is this: how easy would it be for officials to e-connect post offices where even desk top computers do not work efficiently.

After all it is difficult to ignore local situations. According to one official, who spoke on conditions of anonymity, the IPTP 2012 project has many hurdles in the way. He says, “It is fine that the government has come out with such a wonderful idea. But if they are not able to do routine issues, how would big targets be achieved?”

To buttress his point, he says the UPS battery at the Jamia Nagar post office in south Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) has been out of order for the last one-and-a-half years. Despite innumerable complaints, no efforts have been made to repair it, he says.

“Without electricity, computers go off automatically and people are made to stand in queue for hours. When residents and even local postmen complain, they are told to use the generator, which gets operational in about 10 to 15 minutes time, losing precious time in the bargain. Clearly, if this is the situation of post offices in Delhi, it is not hard to visualise the condition of those in remote areas.”

Improvement in infrastructure is pivotal to the success of post offices and indeed to the success of the programme itself. To reach e-connectivity targets, other issues that officials see coming in the way are dearth of staff and infrastructure. The plans are in place though. The government’s seriousness with the project can be  gauged from the fact that it is expected to spend Rs.1877.2 crore for this upgradation.

Points out S Samant, member technology IPTP, “The journey which started on January 2009 with business process re-engineering exercise has reached a take off stage now. The ambitious ITPT 2012 aims at creating a robust IT infrastructure and application for all services offered by the department of posts, i.e., mail, retail, banking and insurance. The rural ICT solution in all BOS would facilitate reaching our services to the rural population in a seamless manner. This will also make the post offices the largest electronic network in the country.”

Of late efforts have being made to bridge the digital divide. The government run indiapost.gov.in has turned out to be extremely popular with the users in the cities of Calicut (where it is ranked 125) and New Delhi (938).

According to the Alexa ranking, in Singapore it is placed at 11,104 with a bounce rate of approximately 30 per cent. States the company website: “Through ePost, customers can send their messages to any address in India with a combination of electronic transmission and physical delivery through a network of more than 1,55,000 post offices. “ePOST sends messages as a soft copy through internet and at the destination it will be delivered to the addressee in the form of hard copy.’’

In an age of computer and internet, it is important that the government takes necessary steps to keep post offices updated. Till now the IT transformation has been appreciable, . According to official data, over 90 per cent of departmental post offices across the country have been computerised.

Experts say mere computerisation may not suffice. What is needed is effective infrastructure and the IPTP 2012 project cannot afford to lose track of its most basic objective.