Leveraging the rural postal network

Abstract

This study seeks to study the ways in which the rural post office network of India Post can be leveraged for meeting the ends of digital and financial inclusion. Services such as e-governance, e commerce, financial services such as banking, cash disbursals such as social security, pensions, insurance and to a limited extent, retail services such as bills payment would be in the ambit of such inclusion. The purpose of research is to suggest a viable model for the provision of the above services through use of appropriate technology. This has the objectives of 1. Leveraging the post office network for provision of services to areas where access to services has been traditionally under provisioned thus assisting in nation building, by development of backward and rural areas. By proactively helping in the delivery of various services, the post office can help beat the last mile problem and bring about true inclusion: especially digital and financial leading to empowerment that is the cornerstone of democracy. 2. A positive externality of this process would be that the post office makes use of its idle capacity and earns revenue from the delivery of these services. In playing the developmental role in rural areas, the post office can improve its income to cost ratio and reduce subsidy considerably. The study proposes a rural network model for the post office whereby components of information and communications technology can be built on to the post office network. The rural post office can thus be an outlet, agency, interface and front end for delivery of the services proposed above. This model would build on the network strength and seek to integrate it with applications of technology for social challenges. This would also play a significant role in the reform of India Post. The rural post office need necessarily not be seen as a burden to be borne on account of the Universal Service Obligation. It can instead be recast as a partner in the delivery of services that are essential and relevant to the rural populace. By doing so, the rural post office can reaffirm its own relevance in the community life of the village which has steadily been corroded over the years.