Mails To Counter Maoists In Odisha’s Red Zones

Bhubaneswar: To provide postal service at the grassroots, the Odisha Postal Circle has decided to set up 133 post offices, especially in remote pockets of the Maoist-infested districts in Odisha.

Announcing this at a press meet here on the occasion of the World Post Day on Wednesday, Postmaster General (PMG), Odisha Circle, Santosh Kumar Kamila said 40 of 133 post offices have already been set up in the Maoist-prone districts of which 27 have opened in Sambalpur and 13 in Sundargarh district.

After a gap of 30 years, a postal circle was set up in Rayagada district in April and in Rourkela in Sundargarh district in June this year for the benefit the people of the south and western Odisha, he further said.

Referring to the postal banking services, Kamila said that as of now, the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has 33 branches in Odisha with the access points in 6369 post offices. “Till date, 3,49,350 IPPB accounts have opened in the state of which 45,923 accounts have been attached to the postal savings accounts of the customers,” he informed.

He also said that the Odisha Postal Circle has been felicitated by the Centre as the leading circle in the country for converting 723 villages as the IPPB Saksham Gram under the ‘Mera Abhiman, Saksham Gram’ Yojana which exceeds the desired target during 2019-2020 fiscal year.

Speaking about the other achievement of the Odisha Postal Circle, Kamila said 6360 post offices have digital customers’ service. Besides, core banking service is available in 1027 of 1211 district post offices while 5171 of 7006 postal branches have the CSI (Core System Integrator) service, he added.