Department of Posts incurs deficit of Rs 6,345 crore

The annual expenditure of the Department of Posts was 13,307.95 crore during FY11, almost double its revenue of 6,962.33 crore, government data showed.

This has "resulted in a deficit of 6,345.62 crore," Minister of State for Communications and IT Sachin Pilot said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

Similarly, in FY10, while the Department earned 6,266.30 crore, it spend 12,908 crore.

The department's deficit had jumped over 80% to 6,641.30 crore in 2009-10 from 3,593.09 crore in 2008-09 on account of the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission's recommendations.

The government has been working on revamping the Indian postal service. Internet connectivity to post offices and turning post offices to full-fledged banks are some of the initiatives being worked on to give the humble post office a radical makeover.

Replying to another question, Pilot said the government has approved the IT modernisation project for the Department of Posts for computerisation of post offices. "This will involve establishment of required IT infrastructure and development of required software applications with an outlay of 1,877.2 crore," Pilot said.

The IT project is expected to be implemented by 2012-13, subject to the availability of funds, he added.

The department has a network of 1.55 lakh post offices in the country, the largest in the world, of which more than 1.39 lakh are in rural areas.