Thursday 29 September 2016
Monday 19 September 2016
Now, post offices make testing soil easy for farmers
In a bid to make soil testing service accessible to farmers, department of post, Pune region, has launched a pilot initiative on Friday named Kisan Vigyan Doot (KVD) where farmers can submit their soil samples at the nearest post offices.
The samples will be tested at the agencies and a report will be sent. The project, announced at the postmaster general's office, is a facility spearheaded by the postal department in collaboration with Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), Baramati.
Sumitha Ayodhya, director of postal services, Pune region, told Mirror, "This is a first-of-itskind initiative that has been introduced in the state. Most farmers are either unaware of the importance of soil testing or the agencies are inaccessible to them, which leads to unsuitable cropping and eventually financial loss." Pune region is spread over four districts — Pune, Satara, Solapur and Ahmednagar — consisting of 2,161 branches that operate in rural areas.
"The rural post offices can collect soil samples from farmers and send it to the KVKs. India Post will act as the farmers' messenger with KVKs offering a perfect blend of its services.
In the pilot stage, this initiative will be implemented at the branch offices of Pune Mofussil (MFL) division," said F B Sayyed, assistant postmaster general, Pune region. Vivek Bhoite, subject matter specialist of soil testing, KVK, Baramati, stated that increasing urbanisation has weakened soil health.
"Most of the farmers are unaware about soil health thus the fertility has worsened. Farmers have approached us for tests from Pune, Phaltan in Satara district, Ahmednagar, Solapur and Bhor tehsil.
Currently, the entire process of submitting the samples to obtaining the results takes nearly eight days. With the implementation of the project, the time taken for the tests will reduce considerably," he said.
Farmers are also happy with the initiative undertaken by the postal department. Shyam Sunder Jaigude, a farmer from Bhor tehsil, said, "If this project works, it will benefit those who are forced to neglect their lands while the tests are being conducted."
KVK in Baramati is a Farm Science Centre at the district level that was established in August 1992 under the affiliation of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi .
//copy// PALEGACY
India Post plans courier play to boost revenues
In an attempt to increase its parcel delivery capacity, India Post plans to partner with courier companies to help them leverage its reach in rural areas and remote locations.
As part of this exercise, India Post has started a pilot project with Blue Dart Express Ltd, a private courier firm, to check the viability of the tie-up for delivery of parcels. India Post has a network of 154,939 post offices and an employee base of 460,457, out of which 261,162 are gramin dak sewaks who work part-time for the department.
“We are already serving e-commerce firms in small towns and rural areas for delivery of their parcels. We can use our existing infrastructure—logistics and postmen—with which we are servicing e-commerce firms,” a senior official from India Post said requesting anonymity.
The boom in the e-commerce sector has come as a lifeline for the postal department. Till March 2016, India Post collected Rs.1,500 crore in cash for delivering parcels for various e-commerce portals, including Amazon and Flipkart. The cash collected from e-commerce deliveries by the department of posts was Rs.500 crore in 2014-15, and a meagre Rs.100 crore in 2013-14.
“Depending upon the success of the pilot, the tie-up will be announced across India for tapping areas uncovered by courier firms either due to logistics issue or cost concerns,” the official added. India Post though directly competes with courier companies with its products such as Speed Post, Express Parcel service and Business Parcel service, among others, its monopoly was broken during late 1990s when private courier companies entered the segment.
However, most private courier companies ignore outskirts of towns and villages and other far-flung areas. “India Post with its widest network and reach to every nook and corner is best suited for even delivering couriers of other companies as well,” said another India Post official who also didn’t want to be identified. India Post has been exploring options to increase its revenues.
The postal department plans to have dedicated road routes for short distances and dedicated trains for longer routes to deliver parcels as reported by InfraCircle on 12 August. Experts concur with India Post’s strategy. “India Post has the biggest network and postmen reach to every village. Courier companies may not have the last mile connectivity which India Post has.
It is a great win-win for everybody. And this is a different India Post we are talking about which is finding ways to identify potential areas to increase revenues,” said Hemant Joshi, partner at Deloitte Haskins & Sells.
Queries emailed to the spokesperson of ministry of electronics and information technology, under which India Post operates, and Blue Dart on 16 September remained unanswered. The e-commerce sector in India is expected to grow to $119 billion by 2020 with a total of 320 million shoppers, according to a Morgan Stanley report.
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PA Legacy
Shri B.V.Sudhakar, Secretary, Posts - in Warangal (Telangana Circle)
An interaction meeting with Postal employees of Warangal & Hanmakonda Divisions by Shri B.V.Sudhakar, Secretary, Department of Posts in Hanmakonda on 18-09-2016. About 300 employees participated and many of them made deliberations on various issues related to respective cadres. Hon'ble Secretary had a patience hearing and replied to all elaborately in the speech.
Shri N.Sammaiah, Circle Secretary, AIPEU-GDS, Telangana Circle submitted a memorandum on GDS issues and requested Secretary, Posts cause to resolve them in favour of GDS. Apart from the issues, Circle Secretary raised the issue of Bonus to GDS with revised ceiling and Verification of Membership for GDS cadre. Secretary, Posts responded positively and assured to use their good offices at the earliest.
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