Tag: India Post

Indian Post Offices May Sell Over-the-Counter Drugs

Posted by | Dec 5, 2007 | |

Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs may soon be available in post offices across the country if an initiative by the drug makers and the government fructify. In a bid increase the access of essential drugs to consumers, pharma companies are in talks with the government to use post offices to sell OTC drugs.

The industry is also considering using the extensive marketing reach of global beverages giant PepsiCo in India for a similar initiative. “The government has around 1.5 lakh post offices across the country. We have been in talks with the government to use the network to sell OTC drugs and hope to start a pilot test within six months,” Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI) president Ranjit Shahani told mediapersons on the sidelines of the India Economic Summit.

The initiative is taking time as drugs and post offices are with different ministries, and the proposal needs separate approval from both the departments. However, the pharma industry is planning to start a pilot test in some cities in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh soon. OTC drugs are medicines like contraceptives, essential cold and cough medicines, among others which consumers can buy without a doctor’s prescription.

Apart from being educated, postmen have good relationships with consumers and drugs manufactures can leverage this network which is now under-utilised, Mr Shahani added. Pharma companies are also exploring a arrangement with the PepsiCo to use the latter’s network to sell OTC drugs. “One can find Pepsi across the nook and corner of the country. We have put up a proposal to Pepsi Co to use their network in India. We have received a positive response.”

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Postal network can be used for other services

Posted by | Nov 28, 2007 | |

India’s vast postal network can be utilised for providing various facilities including microfinance, banking and information-based services to the masses. The Department of Posts also needs to gear itself to strengthen its global network to meet challenges posed by its competitors, said Communications and Information Technology Minister A. Raja.

Delivering his inaugural speech at the five-day executive council meeting of the Asian Pacific Postal Union (APPU), Mr. Raja said over 150,000 post offices spread across India can use newer technologies for providing microfinance services, set up e-knowledge centres and extend banking facilities, specially in rural areas.

Stressing the need for transforming the postal services to meet future challenges and prepare them to compete in the new environment of globalisation, Mr. Raja said the need of the hour was that the managers should learn and develop strategies to adapt the postal services to the changed situation. “The postal workforce will need to become skilled and well informed. Human resource development will become the key to the success of India Postal managers will need to innovate, encourage participation and lead change,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology Shakeel Ahmad said the postal network in the Asia Pacific region comprises 342,002 permanent post offices, which is 51 per cent of the total number of post offices worldwide.

However, it is manned by 1,715,000 postal employees, which is 31 per cent of the worldwide postal staff.

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Postal network in India must use technology for new services

Posted by | Nov 27, 2007 | |

The country’s vast postal network can use new technologies for providing microfinance services, set up e-knowledge centres and extend banking facilities in rural areas, Communications Minister A Raja said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the Executive Council Meeting of Asian Pacific Postal Union (APPU), Raja said the transformation process in postal services was necessary to enable them to respond to change in the new environment of globalisation.

He emphasised on the need for managers to learn, search and scan environment to read changes and quickly develop strategies to adapt the post to the changed situation.

“The postal workforce will need to become skilled and well informed. Human resource development will become the key to the success of Post and managers will need to innovate, encourage participation and lead change,” he said.

Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology Shakeel Ahmad said the postal network in Asia Pacific region comprises 342,000 permanent post offices. This accounts for 51 per cent of the total number of post offices worldwide, manned by 17.15 lakh employees.

The anomaly in the percentage of employees to the number of Post Offices needed to be changed, he added.

India Post is hosting the 30th Asian Pacific Postal Union, Executive Council (APPU-EC) Meeting from November 27 to December 1, 2007 here with an aim to exchange views and discuss matters of mutual interest so as to strengthen co-operation amongst postal administrations and postal service providers in the Asia-Pacific region.

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India: Modernisation of postal department

Posted by | Nov 26, 2007 | |

The Department of Posts has submitted a proposal to the Planning Commission for computerization of 17598 Departmental Post Offices and 64,000 Branch Post Offices and network all computerized offices; provide Automatic Mail Processing Centres; Provide Remotely managed Franking Machines and Cash Counting Machines and Provide anywhere anytime banking.

Following steps have been taken by the Department to enhance the revenue earning ability of the organization: Business Development and Marketing Directorate has been set up in the Department of Posts. It aims at developing new products and services and aims to make Department of Posts a customer oriented organization with business approach; A number of business products like Speed Post, Express Parcel Post and Business Post have been introduced; Value additions like collection from customer premises, credit facility, volume based discounts, door to door delivery, online track and trace system, pre-mailing services etc. have been introduced; Retail network of the Department of Post has been leveraged for providing new services and generating additional revenue and The department has taken initiatives to work out various business alliances and partnership with public and private corporations for leveraging the postal network in rural as well as urban areas.

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India Post looks for consultants on Rs 23,000 million technology spend

Posted by | Nov 7, 2007 | |

India Post plans to invite consultants, such as KPMG International and Ernst & Young, to help the loss-making postal department buy technology solutions, including software applications and computer hardware, as it plans to spend around Rs 23,000 million on technology in a year’s time.

Postal revenues last year were Rs 14,000 million short of the department’s expenses in 2005-06, the latest data available showed.

An “expression of interest” inviting consultants “will be floated in few days’ time”, said a senior official at India Post, who did not wish to be named because the plan had not been finalized yet.

“We have been allocated Rs 23,000 million under the 11th Five Year Plan for computerization,” the official added.

For decades now, the department has been supported by the government in making up losses while running low-priced and inefficient services. A business software known as enterprise resource planning or ERP software, which integrates functions of finance, operations and distribution, is “very compelling for India Post for managing their large network”, said Arvind Mahajan, executive director at a Mumbai unit of KPMG International. “They would need a consultant to help evaluate different vendors for software applications and other services.”

Senior officials from India’s second largest software company, Infosys Technologies Ltd, have already met the India Post officials for providing application development, maintenance and system integration contract.

1 US Dollar = 39.31500 Indian Rupee

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