Post Payments Bank eyes synergies with financial services biz of India Post
Aimed at creating a mechanism where balances in excess of ₹1 lakh stay within the postal system MUMBAI, OCTOBER 30:
The India Post Payments Bank is working on striking synergies with the Post Office Savings Bank of the Department of Posts to ensure that its customers don’t look elsewhere for parking deposits exceeding ₹1 lakh.
In view of the regulatory restriction that a payments bank can hold a maximum balance of ₹1lakh per individual customer, the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) is planning to create a mechanism whereby balances over this limit get automatically transferred to the Post Office Savings Bank (POSB). In this regard, the IPPB is closely examining a clause in the Reserve Bank of India’s payments bank guidelines whereby it can accept a large pool of money to be remitted to a number of accounts provided at the end of the day the balance does not exceed ₹1 lakh.
The IPPB and the POSB apparently want to make sure that as far as possible the customer’s money stays within the government-owned postal system. So, a customer opening a savings bank account with IPPB will be given the option to also open a linked POSB account. The IPPB has been set up under the Department of Posts (DoP) as a public limited company wholly owned by the government of India. The DoP received ‘in-principle’ RBI approval to set up payments bank in August 2015.
The POSB currently offers investment options, including savings bank account, recurring deposit account, time deposit, monthly income scheme, senior citizens savings scheme, and public provident fund, to small investors. These services are offered as an agency service for the Finance Ministry.
As per RBI guidelines, payments banks can accept demand deposits — current deposits and savings bank deposits from individuals, small businesses and other entities. They can neither accept fixed deposits and NRI deposits nor can they give loans.
The primary objective of a payment banks is to further the cause of financial inclusion by providing small savings accounts and payments/remittance services to migrant labour workforce, low-income households, small businesses, other unorganised sector entities and other users.
Among the reasons cited by banking industry experts for mainstream banks to pick up stakes in entities having ‘in-principle’ RBI approval to start payments banks are to provide their banking expertise, the opportunity to tap deposits exceeding ₹1 lakh, and cross-selling loans.
For example, Reliance Industries and State Bank of India have signed an agreement to set up a payments bank with equity contribution of 70 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively. Kotak Mahindra Bank has acquired 19.90 per cent stake in Airtel Payments Bank.
Boosting e-commerce: how-to guide for postal operators
Vigilance Awareness week commences from today
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
31-October-2016 10:36 IST
Vigilance Awareness week commences from today
The Central Vigilance Commission, as part of its efforts to promote probity in public life and to achieve a corruption free society, observes Vigilance Awareness Week every year. The week in which 31st October, the birthday of late Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel falls is observed as Vigilance Awareness Week. The observance of the Vigilance Awareness Week has commenced from today, with pledge taking by public servants in the Ministries/Departments/Central Public Sector Enterprises/Public Sector Banks and all other Organizations.
“Public participation in promoting integrity and eradicating Corruption” has been chosen as the theme for Vigilance Awareness Week this year by the Commission.
In addition, the Commission has envisaged a concept of Integrity Pledge, for enlisting support and commitment of the citizens and corporates/entities/firms etc to prevent and combat corruption.
The observance of Vigilance Awareness Week renews our commitment to achieve the goals of promoting integrity, transparency and accountability in public life. The Commission, therefore, lays greater emphasis on generation of awareness among the public as a more effective and sustainable means of fighting corruption.
2% DA Calculation for Pay Scale 5200 to 20200: 7th Pay Commission
Want to calculate DA for your current pay scale as per 7th pay commission? Then given below table entitled 2% DA Calculation for Pay Scale 5200 to 20200: 7th Pay Commission will show 2% DA calculation after DA hike announced by central government recently. This DA is affected from 01 July 2016. So you have to calculate your revised salary as per 7th CPC with two percentage DA hike from July 2016. This calculation is given in below table.
2% DA Calculation for Pay Scale 5200 to 20200: 7th Pay Commission
Pay Matrix DA Calculation Table for Level 1 to 5, With Effect From 01-07-2016
| PAY MATRIX DA TABLE W.E.F. 1.7.2016 | ||||||||||
| Level – 1 (1800GP) | Level – 2 (1900GP) | Level – 3 (2000GP) | Level – 4 (2400GP) | Level – 5 (2800GP) | ||||||
| Basic Pay | 2% DA | Basic Pay | 2% DA | Basic Pay | 2% DA | Basic Pay | 2% DA | Basic Pay | 2% DA | |
| 1 | 18000 | 360 | 19900 | 398 | 21700 | 434 | 25500 | 510 | 29200 | 584 |
| 2 | 18500 | 370 | 20500 | 410 | 22400 | 448 | 26300 | 526 | 30100 | 602 |
| 3 | 19100 | 382 | 21100 | 422 | 23100 | 462 | 27100 | 542 | 31000 | 620 |
| 4 | 19700 | 394 | 21700 | 434 | 23800 | 476 | 27900 | 558 | 31900 | 638 |
| 5 | 20300 | 406 | 22400 | 448 | 24500 | 490 | 28700 | 574 | 32900 | 658 |
| 6 | 20900 | 418 | 23100 | 462 | 25200 | 504 | 29600 | 592 | 33900 | 678 |
| 7 | 21500 | 430 | 23800 | 476 | 26000 | 520 | 30500 | 610 | 34900 | 698 |
| 8 | 22100 | 442 | 24500 | 490 | 26800 | 536 | 31400 | 628 | 35900 | 718 |
| 9 | 22800 | 456 | 25200 | 504 | 27600 | 552 | 32300 | 646 | 37000 | 740 |
| 10 | 23500 | 470 | 26000 | 520 | 28400 | 568 | 33300 | 666 | 38100 | 762 |
| 11 | 24200 | 484 | 26800 | 536 | 29300 | 586 | 34300 | 686 | 39200 | 784 |
| 12 | 24900 | 498 | 27600 | 552 | 30200 | 604 | 35300 | 706 | 40400 | 808 |
| 13 | 25600 | 512 | 28400 | 568 | 31100 | 622 | 36400 | 728 | 41600 | 832 |
| 14 | 26400 | 528 | 29300 | 586 | 32000 | 640 | 37500 | 750 | 42800 | 856 |
| 15 | 27200 | 544 | 30200 | 604 | 33000 | 660 | 38600 | 772 | 44100 | 882 |
| 16 | 28000 | 560 | 31100 | 622 | 34000 | 680 | 39800 | 796 | 45400 | 908 |
| 17 | 28800 | 576 | 32000 | 640 | 35000 | 700 | 41000 | 820 | 46800 | 936 |
| 18 | 29700 | 594 | 33000 | 660 | 36100 | 722 | 42200 | 844 | 48200 | 964 |
| 19 | 30600 | 612 | 34000 | 680 | 37200 | 744 | 43500 | 870 | 49600 | 992 |
| 20 | 31500 | 630 | 35000 | 700 | 38300 | 766 | 44800 | 896 | 51100 | 1022 |
| 21 | 32400 | 648 | 36100 | 722 | 39400 | 788 | 46100 | 922 | 52600 | 1052 |
| 22 | 33400 | 668 | 37200 | 744 | 40600 | 812 | 47500 | 950 | 54200 | 1084 |
| 23 | 34400 | 688 | 38300 | 766 | 41800 | 836 | 48900 | 978 | 55800 | 1116 |
| 24 | 35400 | 708 | 39400 | 788 | 43100 | 862 | 50400 | 1008 | 57500 | 1150 |
| 25 | 36500 | 730 | 40600 | 812 | 44400 | 888 | 51900 | 1038 | 59200 | 1184 |
| 26 | 37600 | 752 | 41800 | 836 | 45700 | 914 | 53500 | 1070 | 61000 | 1220 |
| 27 | 38700 | 774 | 43100 | 862 | 47100 | 942 | 55100 | 1102 | 62800 | 1256 |
| 28 | 39900 | 798 | 44400 | 888 | 48500 | 970 | 56800 | 1136 | 64700 | 1294 |
| 29 | 41100 | 822 | 45700 | 914 | 50000 | 1000 | 58500 | 1170 | 66600 | 1332 |
| 30 | 42300 | 846 | 47100 | 942 | 51500 | 1030 | 60300 | 1206 | 68600 | 1372 |
| 31 | 43600 | 872 | 48500 | 970 | 53000 | 1060 | 62100 | 1242 | 70700 | 1414 |
| 32 | 44900 | 898 | 50000 | 1000 | 54600 | 1092 | 64000 | 1280 | 72800 | 1456 |
| 33 | 46200 | 924 | 51500 | 1030 | 56200 | 1124 | 65900 | 1318 | 75000 | 1500 |
| 34 | 47600 | 952 | 53000 | 1060 | 57900 | 1158 | 67900 | 1358 | 77300 | 1546 |
| 35 | 49000 | 980 | 54600 | 1092 | 59600 | 1192 | 69900 | 1398 | 79600 | 1592 |
| 36 | 50500 | 1010 | 56200 | 1124 | 61400 | 1228 | 72000 | 1440 | 82000 | 1640 |
| 37 | 52000 | 1040 | 57900 | 1158 | 63200 | 1264 | 74200 | 1484 | 84500 | 1690 |
| 38 | 53600 | 1072 | 59600 | 1192 | 65100 | 1302 | 76400 | 1528 | 87000 | 1740 |
| 39 | 55200 | 1104 | 61400 | 1228 | 67100 | 1342 | 78700 | 1574 | 89600 | 1792 |
| 40 | 56900 | 1138 | 63200 | 1264 | 69100 | 1382 | 81100 | 1622 | 92300 | 1846 |
Before implementation of seventh pay commission, 6% DA hike is given by central government and DA reaches 125% of your basic salary. But at the time of implementation of 7th pay commission, panel of 7th pay commission has merged DA with basic pay and make pay matrix table with fitment factor 2.57. You have to multiply 2.57 in to your basic salary as on December 2015. After multiplication of Fitment factor your new initial salary as per 7th pay commission is calculated.
Example 1: As shown in table, if your pay scale is Rs. 5200 to Rs. 20200 and Grade Pay is Rs. 1800 and your basic as per 7th CPC is Rs. 18000 then your 2% DA will be Rs. 360.
Example 2: If your basic / initial pay scale is 29200 as per 7th CPC, then 2% DA will be Rs. 584.As per example you can check your 2% DA Calculation for Pay Scale 5200 to 20200 with different grade pay.
More About DA in 7th Pay Commission: As per formula and suggestion of panel headed by justice A K Mathur government increases DA on the bases of 12 month average of retail inflation. 12-month average of Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers from 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016, works out to be 2.92%. So Unions of central government employee want that DA should be increased by 3% not 2%. They demand 3% hike in DA. But government has approved only 2% increment in this allowances.
7th CPC Transport Allowance - A look back
Transport Allowance (TPTA) is granted to cover the expenditure involved in commuting between place of residence and place of duty. The existing rates are as under:
Moreover, officers drawing GP 10000 and higher, who are entitled to the use of official car, have the option to avail themselves of the existing facility or to draw the TPTA at the rate of ₹7,000+DA pm. Differently abled employees are granted this allowance at double the rate, subject to a minimum amount of ₹1,000 plus DA.
Many representations have been received regarding Transport Allowance. Most of them advocate granting the allowance at the same rate to all employees, irrespective of their place of posting, on the grounds that fuel prices affect everybody equally.
Analysis and Recommendations : The Commission notes that TPTA is fully DA-indexed. The first issue to be considered is whether the rate of Transport Allowance should be the same for all places. There are arguments both for and against this view.
Proponents of the idea argue that petrol prices are almost same everywhere. Moreover, public transport system is better developed in many of the A1/A Class cities, thereby reducing the cost of commuting significantly. The argument, therefore, is that A1/A category places do not need to have a higher rate.
Opponents point out that the categorization of A1/A has been abolished for other purposes (like HRA, CCA) but retained for Transport Allowance. Incidentally, only 13 cities fall under this categorization: six in A1, viz., Hyderabad, Delhi, Bengaluru, Greater Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and seven in A, viz., Ahmedabad, Surat, Nagpur, Pune, Jaipur, Lucknow and Kanpur. Recently, six more cities, viz., Patna, Kochi, Kozhikode, Indore, Coimbatore and Ghaziabad have been added to A1/A categories, making it nineteen in all. (Incidentally, vide a recent notification No. 21(2)/2015-E.II(B) dated 06.08.2015, the use of term “A1/A” has been dropped for these nineteen cities. Hence, the Commission will refer to these nineteen cities as “Higher TPTA cities.”). In all these places the commuting distances are far more than in other cities. Moreover, the public transport system is not as developed as it should be in all these places. Therefore, it is argued, the distinction should remain.
After considering both the viewpoints, the Commission is of the view that by and large the commuting distances and associated difficulties involved in Higher TPTA cities are much more compared to other places. Hence, the argument that the distinction should stay is a valid one.
The second issue is whether Transport Allowance should be the same for all personnel posted at the same place. Here the Commission feels that a question of status of employee is involved and hence, complete parity is not possible.
Regarding the optimal rate of Transport Allowance, the Commission notes that the allowance is already fully DA indexed. Therefore, since DA has already reached 119 percent and is likely to rise further before the implementation of our report, the following rates of Transport Allowance are recommended:
Officers in Pay Level 14 and higher, who are entitled to the use of official car, will ave the option to avail themselves of the existing facility or to draw the TPTA at the rate of ₹15,750+DA pm. Differently abled employees will continue to be paid at double rate, subject to a minimum of ₹2,250 plus DA.
JCM Staff Side suggestion on Transport Allowance : The 5th CPC had introduced transport allowance for employees working in classified towns on account of various factors like unprecedented growth of city limits, increase in volume of traffic and non availability of residential accommodation at reasonable rents near offices, which are usually located in the heart of cities. If these were the factors it appears that the 5th CPC did not take into account that it is usually a low paid employee who finds residence at a very long distance from his office whereas officers are offered residences very near to their offices. If, therefore, transport allowance was meant to defray the transportation charges from residence to office and back the higher rates should have been recommended for the low paid employees who were residing at a distant places. Since the 6th CPC‟s
recommendation in this regard was implemented, there had been several rounds of increase in the fuel charges making a cascading impact on the public transport fares.
Taking these factors into account, we suggest that the following rates of transport allowance may please be recommended.
At first glance, both transport allowance and traveling allowance might look the same. But, the two are very different for Central Government employees. Recent spate of orders issued by the DOPT and Finance Ministry on TRAVELLING ALLOWANCE was the inspiration behind this write-up.
- Pay Range X classified city Y classified towns.
Pay upto Rs. 75,000 Rs. 7500 + DA Rs. 3750 +DA
Above Rs. 75,000 Rs. 6500 +DA Rs. 3500+ DA
In its order last week, the DOPT said that senior officers who have to travel by air for official purposes may not have to submit the boarding passes while settlement of TA claims. They will have to henceforth submit the passes only when required. The very next day, the Finance Ministry issued an order that made it mandatory for senior officials to submit boarding passes alongwith TA bills for air journey performed on Government account.
The concept of Transport Allowance was introduced by the 5th CPC to defray the cost of commuting between residence and office. The 6th CPC while recommending CCA to be subsumed in Transport Allowance. Transport Allowance is given to the Central Government employees for their everyday commute to and from the workplace. Based on their Grade Pay or Band Pay, this could be anything between Rs. 400 to Rs. 3200 per month. It also depends on the population of the city or town where the office is located. Transport allowance is twice the normal amount for physically challenged employees.
Travelling allowance is given to employees who have to travel out of station for official work. There are a number of rules, guidelines and restrictions that control travelling allowance. DOPT and the Ministry of Finance issues amendment orders related to travelling allowances from time to time.
Traveling allowance differs based on the employee’s grade pay. The ‘Grade Pay’ for determine the TA/DA entitlement is as indicated in Central Civil Service(RP)Rules 2008. Depending on the grade pay, the employee has to opt for the appropriate class of accommodation while travelling via bus, train, ship or by aeroplane. The employee can refund only that amount that he is entitlement for. The Finance Ministry order published on 23.9.2008, OM explained the details of the Travelling allowance and entitlements for Government officials as per title given below…
Government officials on Tour : Travelling Allowance and Entitlements, Entitlement for journeys on tour and travel entitlements within the country, International Travel Entitlement, Mileage allowance for journeys by road, Daily Allowance, Travelling allowance on Transfer, Transfer Grant and Packing Allowance, Transportation of Personal Effects, Transportation of Conveyance, Travelling allowance Entitlement of Retiring employees, Lumpsum Transfer Grant and Packing Allowance
Daily Allowance : If the official tour on is of longer duration, then the employee is paid Daily Allowance to meet his boarding and lodging expenses. This too depends on the Grade pay of the employee. This is what is known as TA/DA. While seeking the TA/DA claims, the employee has to present receipts and bills.
In this regard, the notification, that senior officials are not required to submit the boarding passes while seeking settlement of TA claims of their air travel expenses, was confusing.
The order is not applicable to Group ‘C’ employees. But some have misunderstood the order and have assumed that it was for the air travel facility that is available as part of the Leave Travel Concession.
GDS Bonus Arrears Tool Released by CEPT
rocedure for installation and drawl of arrears of Bonus for GDS
- In order to facilitate the drawal and disbursement of difference of Bonus for the financial year 2014-2015, a tool is designed for the same. It is a small module working as an extension of the Accounts main module.
- This tool requires no installation, needs to be copied in the accounts installation path for fetching the details from accounts database.
- Once after copying exe, double click the exe and it will ask for the Server Name of SQL server in which Accounts database is available,
Enter SQL server name then click on OK
Then the arrears of Bonus screen will appear as shown below
- Enter the Financial year, Sanction details, Bill no and Sanction date and then click Fetch Button. Now the details of all the officials for whom the bonus was drawn already will be displayed.
- For the officials for whom the bonus was not drawn at your office arrears of bonus needs to be drawn in other bills option after getting drawn statement from the earlier office in which official has worked.
- For the official already transferred from your office select the official name and make due and draw amount zero then click update button. Once after doing all the required modification.
- Then press Draw button then following screen will be appearing.
- Prepare ARs and detail Bill in accounts main module
- Download the tool called BonusArrears.exe
- Do as per the instruction in the document file
Guidelines about engagement on compassionate grounds against GDS posts
Guidelines about engagement on compassionate grounds against GDS posts-Clarification reg.
Honour the decision or we shall go on path of struggle – Secy/Staff side to Government of India
Honour the decision or we shall go on path of struggle – Secy/Staff side to Government of India
Shiva Gopal Mishra
Secretary
Ph.: 23382286
National Council (Staff Side)
Joint Consultative Machinery
Central Government Employees
13-C, Ferozshah Road, New Delhi – 110001
E Mail : nc.jcm.np@gmail.com
No.NC/JCM/2016
Dated: October 26, 2016
Hon’ble Minister for Finance,
Ministry of Finance,
(Government of India),
New Delhi
Respected Sir,
We solicit your kind reference to the discussions; the representatives of the Staff Side JCM had with you on 30th June 2016 in the wake of impending strike action that was to commence from 11th July 2016. Hon’ble Home Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh, your goodself, Hon’ble Minister for Railways, Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu and Hon’ble MoSR, Shri Manoj Sinha, on having detailed deliberations with the Staff Side, had appreciated that, the Central Government employees were not generally happy with the decision taken by the Union Cabinet on 29th June 2016, while accepting the recommendations of the 7th CPC, particularly in the matter of Minimum Wage and Fitment Formula. After detailed discussions it was agreed by your goodself and other Hon’ble Ministers present in the meeting that, the government would address the grievances of the employees, whereupon the NJCA had decided to defer the “Indefinite Strike”. Accordingly, a committee was set-up to consider the demand of Revision of Minimum Wage and Fitment Formula with a mandate to finalize its report within four months.
We (Staff Side) interacted with the said committee, headed by Shri P.K. Das, Addl. Secretary(Expenditure), on 24.10.2016. It would be quite appropriate to bring to your kind notice that, we have felt, during the course of meeting, that, the proceedings of the committee are extremely disappointing and are left with the impression that, the committee is dilly-dallying the issue.
We are, therefore, left with no option, but to address this communication with the fervent hope that, your goodself will direct the said committee to interact with the Staff Side in a fruitful manner and arrive at a mutually agreeable proposal on the issues of Minimum Wage and Fitment Formula.
We have full trust and believe that, the government would honour the decision taken in the meeting held on 30.06.2016 in your benign presence, and suitable direction will be given to the committee to complete the assigned task within the stipulated timeframe in a satisfactory manner.
It would be the most unfortunate development, we regret to state, if we are constrained to tread the path of struggle once again in the event of the committee not coming up with a satisfactory settlement.
With Kind Regards!
Yours faithfully,
sd/-
(Shiva Gopal Mishra)
Secretary
Source: http://ncjcmstaffside.com/
Crediting of enhanced Medical Allowance to the pensioners account by Banks: CPAO Order4
Crediting of enhanced Medical Allowance to the pensioners account by Banks: CPAO Order
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
DEPARTMENT OF EXPENDITURE
CENTRAL PENSION ACCOUNTING OFFICE
NEW DELHI-110066
CPAO/IT&Tech/Clarification/2016-17/ 13,Vol -VI /160
26.10.2016
Subject: Crediting of enhanced Medical Allowance to the pensioners account by Banks.
During the workshop for banks on monitoring the pensioners grievances through “Web Responsive Pensioners' Service" organised on 03.10.2016 a query was made on requirement of Special Seal Authority for crediting Medical Allowance at the enhanced rate based on orders issued by DP&PW from time to time. In this context, attention is invited to para 4.5.2 (copy of the extract attached) of Accounting and Operating Procedure for Central Pension Processing Centre of Authorised Banks for Pension Disbursement to Central Government (Civil) Pensioners issued in Feb, 2012 wherein it has been provided that CPPC should have direct access to the website of the Department of Pensions & Pensioners Welfare and Ministry of Home Affair, so that these are regularly browsed and orders on Dearness Relief issued by various Departments are acted upon immediately.
CPPCs of all the banks are advised to follow the same instructions for revising the Medical Allowance of the pensioners already drawing the same as and when the rate of Medical Allowance is enhanced by DP&PW without requiring for any Special Seal Authority from CPAO.
Encl: As above.
(Vijay Singh)
Sr. Accounts Officer (IT & Tech)
4.5. Roles and Responsibilities of CPPC as oversight agency
4.5.1. CPPC will receive Government orders and disseminate the same to all concerned agencies for necessary action.
4.5.2. The CPPC should have direct access to the websites of the Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare, M/o Home Affairs and M/o Consumer Affairs so that these are regularly browsed and orders on Dearness Relief issued by various Departments are acted upon immediately.
4.5.3. The dues of the pensioner accruing with time, based on age must be automatically paid to the pensioner by the CPPC on provisional basis for a period of six months. This should be fully automated and exceptions watched for correction.
4.5.4. At the time of credit afforded at CPPC, a confirmation report must be generated and monitored to ensure that the pension/family pension etc. in respect of all pensioners of the CPPC have been credited. A monthly discrepancy report with respect to the total number of pensioners and those paid in the previous month may be reviewed regularly. Exceptions should be reviewed by the senior management of the bank to enable immediate rectification of any omissions.
4.5.5. CPPC software is required to have a grievance redressal module as detailed in Section 9.2 below.
4.5.6. CPPC may exercise oversight on quality of service to pensioners including services to the handicapped pensioners.
4.5.7. CPPCs may ensure that the responsibilities assigned to Home Branches are enforced so that the pensioners are not redirected to CPPC for redressal of grievances and information needs. Necessary performance measures and monitoring mechanisms, in co-ordination with the respective administrative structures to achieve the desired level of service delivery in Home Branches as well as CPPCs may be instituted by the bank.
4.6. Roles and Responsibilities of Home branches (pension account service branch)
Feel Proud To Take The Pledge On Rashtriya Ekta Divas
Feel Proud To Take The Oath On Rashtriya Ekta Divas
I solemnly pledge that I dedicate myself to preserve the unity, integrity and security of the nation and also strive hard to spread this message among my fellow countrymen.
I take this pledge in the spirit of unification of my country which was made possible by the vision and actions of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
I also solemnly resolve to make my own contribution to ensure internal security if my country.
Advertisement on Rural Postal Life Insurance
Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI) came into being as a sequel to the recommendations of the Official Committee for Reforms in the Insurance Sector (Malhotra Committee). The Committee had observed in 1993 that only 22% of the insurable population in this country had been insured; life insurance funds accounted for only 10% of the gross household savings. The Committee had observed:
“ The Committee understands that Rural Branch Postmasters who enjoy a position of trust in the community have the capacity to canvass life insurance business within their respective areas…..”
The Government accepted the recommendations of Malhotra Committee and allowed Postal Life Insurance to extend its coverage to the rural areas to transact life insurance business with effect from 24.3.1995, mainly because of the vast network of Post Offices in the rural areas and low cost of operations. The prime objective of the scheme is to provide insurance cover to the rural public in general and to benefit weaker sections and women workers of rural areas in particular and also to spread insurance awareness among the rural population. As on 31.03.2015, we have more than 23.51 million RPLI policies.
