Bengaluru, Jul 10 (PTI) No other distribution channel in the world is as wide or as deep as India Post, said Union Minister for Communication Jyotiraditya M Scindia on Wednesday.

He urged the postal employees to work towards becoming the largest logistics organisation in the world, too.

Scindia was addressing the Gramin Dak Sevaks Sammelan at K P Puttana Chetty Town Hall in Bengaluru. Gramin Dak Sevaks (Village postal workers) form the backbone of rural postal services.

“India post has 1.64 lakh points of presence, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, from Bharuch to Tawang,” he added.

He said, although the post offices are getting modern tools, like handheld devices and Darpan, postal employees need to change the way they work to bring in the real transformation.

“Today, we have the capability of becoming the largest logistics organisation in the world. No one has the human resources to be able to do this apart from us. But we’ve got to make sure that we are at the cutting edge. Which means we need to innovate. We need to think about productivity,” he added.

The minister also said that, to keep up with the times, the post office has to introduce new products to customers.

“For example, we are now starting to work for mutual fund companies doing KYC norms for them,” added the minister.

He said India Post can be a customer-centric organisation only if each and every one of 2,74,000 employees work with the same dedication, passion, and zeal.

Stating that the India Post will get a healthy amount of CapEx to transform its post offices, Scindia urged the employees to make sure they do the needful to transform the post offices.

“We are going to become service-driven, and we are going to ensure that we transform ourselves from a cost centre into a profit centre for the Government of India,” added Scindia.

Scindia said he won’t rest until the post offices become the window to the world for the common man.

“Anything and everything that a citizen in our country needs, requires, wants, must be in our post offices,” he added.

During the event, 15 Dak Sewaks from all across Karnataka were also felicitated for their outstanding service and dedication.

According to the minister, a Grameen Dak Sevak does not do a job. He recalled the time when he was in boarding school, when he would wait eagerly for letters from his family.

“My Grameen Dak Sevak transmits emotion from one human being to another in the form of the letter — you cannot put a monetary value on that,” said the minister.

The event was presided over by the Chief Postmaster General of Karnataka Circle, K Prakash. Vandita Kaul, Secretary, Department of Posts, and Manju Kumar, Member, Postal Services Board, were also present. PTI JR ADB