Mumbai. The Department of Posts (India Post) has launched a scheme called Five Star Village Scheme to make major postal schemes reach all parts of the country in rural areas of the country. This scheme will try to bridge the gap in public awareness and access to postal products and services, especially in remote villages. Under the Five Star Villages scheme, all postal products and services will be made available at the rural level. Branch offices will act as a one-stop shop to meet all the related needs of the villagers.
The plans under the Five Star plan include:
(1) Saving bank accounts, recurring deposit accounts, NSC/KVP certificates
(2) Sukanya Samriddhi Accounts / PPF Accounts
(3) Funded Post Office Savings Account India Post Payment Bank Account
(4) Postal Life Insurance Policy / Rural Postal Life Insurance Policy and
(5) Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana Account / Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana Account.
Now if a village achieves universal coverage for four schemes from the above list, then that village will get four-star status. If a village completes three schemes, then that village will be given three-star status.
Pilot project started-While launching the scheme, Union Minister of State for Communications, Sanjay Dhotre said that the scheme is being launched on a pilot basis in Maharashtra. Based on the experience here, it will be implemented across the country. Postmen and the postal department are an important part of the life of the common citizen.
Interest Rate- The post office NSC scheme is currently paying interest at the rate of 6.8 percent per annum. It is compounded on an annual basis but the payment is made only on maturity. The tenure of this scheme is 5 years. However, on completion of maturity, it can be extended for another 5 years.
The entire state of Maharashtra will be covered under this scheme. To begin with, two rural districts/areas have been identified for each region: Akola and Washim in Nagpur region; Parbhani and Hingoli in Aurangabad region; Solapur and Pandharpur in Pune region; Kolhapur and Sangli in Goa region; and Malegaon and Palghar in Navi Mumbai region. A total of 50 villages from each district will be covered during the current financial year 2020-2021. Regional offices will identify the villages to be covered.
How will the scheme reach every village- This will be implemented by a team of five Gramin Dak Sevaks who will be assigned a village for marketing all the products, savings and insurance schemes of the Postal Department. This team will be headed by the Branch Post Master of the concerned branch office. The Postal Inspector will personally monitor the progress of the team on a daily basis. The teams will be headed and monitored by the respective Divisional Heads, Assistant Superintendents of Posts and Inspector Posts.
Campaign-The team of Gramin Dak Sevaks will conduct door-to-door awareness campaigns about all the schemes covering all eligible villagers. Extensive publicity will be done by displaying information on the notice board of the branch office. Prominent places in the targeted villages like Panchayat offices, schools, village dispensaries, bus depots, markets will also be used for advertising and pamphlets will be distributed. Small fairs will be organized keeping in mind the COVID-19 safety guidelines.
Training and monitoring-Necessary training and infrastructure to cover all the schemes will be provided to all branch offices in the identified villages. The progress of the scheme and target achievement will be closely monitored at the circle, regional and divisional levels. Monthly progress will be reviewed by the Chief Post Master General.
Chief Post Master General, Maharashtra Circle and Goa State, Harish Chandra Agarwal assured the minister that Maharashtra will set a good example of successful implementation of Five Star Village Scheme, paving the way for the national launch of the scheme later. Director General (Postal), Vineet Pandey; and Postmaster General, Mumbai Region, Swati Pandey also participated in the online launch.
Tags: indiapost, Post Office, Postal Department
FIRST PUBLISHED : September 11, 2020, 07:32 IST