Centre to recruit 3,300 new staff for 650 postal bank branches

According to a senior official, the department would recruit about 3,300 new employees for smooth operation of all 650 postal bank branches.

The recruitment drive would be launched soon to select staff of every level ranging from multi tasking staff, clerical staff, mid-management level professionals to managing director. The Postal Secretary would be ex-officio chief of the whole conglomerate. 

To achieve the set target in given time, the India Post has chalked out a strategic plan, which has it that first 50 branches of Postal Payment Bank would be rolled out by March 2017. 

As per the plan, the first 50 postal banks would come up in all metro cities, state capitals and iconic places, including Varanasi, Agra, Katra, Tirupati, Puri, Deoghar, Bodhyaga, etc. “Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad will hold review meetings every fortnight,” the official said. “As per the target, 75 postal banks would become operational in April 2017 and same number of branches would be operational in May 2017 too, taking the total figure to 200 by May,” the official said, adding that 100-100 postal banks would be opened in June and July. 

“In August, 125 postal banks would become functional and with same number of branches to be operation in September, the target of activating total 650 postal payment banks would be completed,” an official said.

Giving details about appointment of staff for postal bank, the official said, “Preference would be given to job-seekers from commerce background. 

At senior level recruitments, applicants from the banking background would be preferred as it will save both money and time spent on training the selected ones.” 

The official further added that functioning of postal banks would be at par with any commercial banks with a corporate office formulating development strategies for the banks. Nowadays the postal department is thing of hot discussion as it’s witnessing a total makeover. 

The government is mulling providing i-pads and handheld devices to postmen to compete with e-commerce service providers. India Post, which has now become a blue-eyed department of Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, is making great strides in e-commerce. 

“Recently the minister met Postal Services Board for India Post Payments Bank and had asked them to expedite the process of setting up this entity by September 2017 as desired by the PM Modi. There will be about 3.5 lakh employees who are being trained in phases,” the official stated.

Initially most of the 3.5 lakh workforce will be posted on deputation who will be gradually replaced by fresh recruits. Prasad had also asked postal department to hire Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the IPPB by August and set up selection committee for hiring Chief Financial Officer by June 15. 

The Union Cabinet had on June 1 cleared the proposal to set up India Post Payments Bank with a corpus of Rs 800 crore. The branches would be expanded further to cover the entire country by the end of financial year 2018-19. 

The Centre has approved Rs 800 crore corpus for postal bank which will have Rs 400 crore equity and Rs 400 crore grant.