DoP officers have undergone a great transition
What are the various departments in postal services a new IPS officer is required to work in?
For providing postal services, Department of Posts' (DoP) operations are divided into 22 circles, which largely are coterminous with state boundaries, (except in the North East circle, which includes all seven states of north eastern India). Circle Office is an administrative unit headed by the Chief Postmaster General who is the overall in-charge of the operations in the circle.
Circles are further subdivided into regions and then divisions. Each region is headed by a Postmaster General and a division by a Senior Superintendent. A division could either be performing postal functions or be responsible for the Railway Mail Service (RMS). The Postal Division manages all post offices and last-mile delivery, while the RMS manages the transmission of mails.
The divisional head is also responsible for administrative and HR-related activities which include recruitment, leave, transfer, training, promotion, legal/vigilance and performance management. A new entrant to the service handles any such division on his first posting.
What are the current challenges that the department faces?
Trends such as urbanization, increased demand for financial services, increased funding by government for weaker sections and rural sector now require the DoP to develop new processes and supporting technology. In this process, the department faces twin challenges of increased competition and continuing advances in communication technology, especially mobile telephony and the Internet.
How has your job changed in recent times?
During current times, the Postal Service and its officers have undergone a great transition. They are not just civil servants, but are also looked upon as agents of change. The mandate of the government to provide efficient and universal postal service has bestowed a lot of responsibility on the department.
It has been vigorously training its officers on management, induction of technology, specialised postal and banking training, due to which officers are now proactively introducing high business standards at work, large-scale IT utilisation and change-management efforts.
Author: Syed Amir Ali Hashmi (HT Horizons)
Date: 20th August, 2010
For further details about related courses and colleges please click below:
This account contains a repository of informative articles by external authors with domain expertise in various aspects of guiding students on how to go about pursuing their undergraduate and postgraduate studies in... Read Full Bio