Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia says possible to make Postal Department profitable; asks officials to make collective effort

Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday said that it is possible to make the Department of Posts profitable if officials put their act together and make collective effort to achieve the goal.

While speaking at an officers conclave at the Department of Posts, Scindia said the over a century old postal department is deeply entrenched in culture and history of India since 1952 when the first stamp was issued and now it is time for transformation.

He said that the Department of Posts is a cost centre for the government of India.

"I put forth a very, very strong vision and a strong goal at a very high point today, we are a cost centre for the government of India. Our revenue stream is Rs 12,000 crore. Our cost stream is Rs 36,000 crore. Why is it that my family cannot become a profit centre for the government? That is a tall goal. To go from Rs 12,000 crore of revenue to Rs 40,000 crore but it's not outside the realm of possibility," Scindia said.

He said that if the department puts in place the success formula of "One team, one vision, one goal, one result", it will be possible to achieve the goal.

The minister said that the leadership at the postal department needs to inspire for the long term vision. He said that there is a need to innovate, embrace new ideas, build prototypes, and replicate proof of concepts with services.

"We are vertically very focused, whether it is the PLI (postal insurance) schemes, parcel and express delivery, but along with being vertically focused, we must be horizontally focused, along with the life cycle of our customer," Scindia said.

He said that there is a need for collective action.

"Success is not a derivative of leadership in terms of an individual role, but success is derivative of leadership in terms of its freeness, and therefore our teams have to function together. Our teams have to overlap each other. Our teams have to assist each other, and I see no reason why today, we are only six to 10 per cent of the market share of anybody," Scindia said.

He said that post offices must become a window to the world for the common man, and a one-stop shop for all services that any citizen would like to avail.