President releases a commemorative postage stamp on ‘silk letter movement’

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee released a Commemorative Postage Stamp on ‘Silk Letter Movement’ at a function at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi today (January 11, 2013).

Speaking on the occasion, the President said that the sacrifices of individuals and groups, such as those associated with the Silk Letter Movement, constitute a glorious chapter of India’s history of Freedom struggle and need to be acknowledged and appreciated. The President said that he is happy that the Department of Posts has done its bit over the years and has issued postage stamps to acknowledge the contribution of various groups and movements which in their own ways contributed to the overall effort to liberate India. 

The President also complimented Shri Kapil Sibal, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Government of India, for his endeavour to dedicate stamp on a ‘Silk Letter Movement’, as it truly reflects the multi-cultural and multi-faceted dimension of the freedom struggle. 

Source:-PIB

CALENDAR OF DEPARTMENTAL EXAMINATIONS - 2013

Source : D.G. Posts No. A-34012/01/2013-DE dated 9th January, 2013.

(A) Centralized Examinations : 

1. Inspector of Posts Examination will be held on 7th & 8th September 2013
2. PS Group ‘B’ Examination will be held on 9.6.2013 Sunday 
3. Postmaster Grade-I Exam will be held on 9.6.2013 Sunday
4. LGO Examination for PAs/SAs in Circles will be held on 9.9.2013
5. Junior Engineer (C&E) Examination will be notified after receipt of Question Banks and syllabus revised.
6. Asstt. Engineer (C&E) Examination  will be notified after receipt of Question Banks and syllabus revised. 
7. Sr. Postmaster Examination Tentatively proposed to be held in November 2013.
8. PAs/SAs Direct Recruitment Examination 20th October 2013 for 2013 vacancies.
9. Assistant Manager(MMS) will be notified after receipt of revised Recruitment Rules.
10. Assistant Accounts Officer (AAO)  will be notified after receipt of revised Recruitment Rules. 

(B) Decentralized Examination :

1. Confirmation Examination for direct recruit Jr. Accountants in PAO 11th & 12th May, 2013
2. LDCs to Junior Accountants in PAOs will be held on 15th & 16th June 2013
3. LGOs Examination for promotion to Assistant of other wings i.e. MMS, Foreign Post, RLO, Stores Depot and CO/RO  will be held on 21st July 2013
4. Postman Examination will be held in November 2013 for 2013 vacancies.
5. Direct Recruitment to Multi-Tasking Staff  will be held in November 2013 for 2013 vacancies.

National conference of NAPE-Group C(FNPO) will be held at GUNTUR from 10.1.2013 to 12.01.2013

THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF POSTAL EMPLOYEES-GROUP-C(FNPO) WILL BE HELD AT GUNTUR,ANDHRA PRADESH CIRCLE,FROM 10.01.2013 TO 12.01.2013.THE CONFERENCE WILL BE INAUGURATED BY Dr.KRUPARANI KILLI,H'BLE MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY.

Amendment in Rule 4A of Post Office Savings Account Rules 1981 thereby allowing deposits other than wages under MGNREGA into Workers Wage Accounts

To view SB Order No.01/2013 please Click Here.

'Indian post not liable for mistake of foreign post'

PANAJI: The Indian postal service cannot be held liable for wrongful acts done by a foreign post office beyond the limits of India and the Indian postal service enjoys legal immunity from being prosecuted for wrong payments or delay in payments for money order by foreign post offices.

This is a recent judgment of the Goa state consumer disputes redressal commission which upheld the ruling of the South Goa consumer disputes redressal forum.

The case relates to a complaint filed by Suresh Raikar of Alto Dabolim. Around November 1, 2006, Raikar sent two money orders to his son who was then residing at Dharamshala, Butawal in Nepal. The first money order was for 850 and the second money order was for 2,000. The money orders were sent from Margao post office.

It is Raikar's contention that both the money orders were not delivered to his son in Nepal. In August 2008, he filed a complaint with the South Goa district consumer disputes redressal forum demanding compensation of Rs 8.5 lakh. The forum dismissed the complaint and Raikar then appealed to the state commission.

The Margao post masters' office submitted that the first money order was delivered to Raikar's son in Nepal on January 2, 2007, as informed by the section officer, general post office, Kathmandu, Nepal. The second money order was returned to Raikar on December 3, 2008. The state consumer disputes redressal commission observed that Raikar had not been candid enough to disclose this fact.

Raikar insisted that the first money order must have been delivered to a wrong person on January 2, 2007, because his son had left the address on December 23, 2006.

Counsel for the Margao post master claimed immunity from liability by virtue of Section 48 of the India Post Office Act, 1898. He submitted that the liability of the Indian postal service or for that matter of the central government ceased with the borders of the country and cannot be extended to the acts or omissions on the part of foreign post office.

The counsel also referred to paragraph 84 (2) of the Post Office Guide, which states that theIndian Post Office is exempted by law from all responsibility in the case of wrong payment or delay in payment by foreign postal administration of money orders issued in India.

Central Civil Services (Revised Pay) Rules, 2008

To view Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure OM No.10/2/2011-E-III (A) dated 3rd January,2013 regarding Central Civil Services (Revised Pay) Rules, 2008 - the re-exercised of option under Rule 6 of the Central Services (Revised Pay) Rules, 2008 in case of employees covered under the OM dated 19.3.2012 please  Click Here.

Happy New Year 2013

Tenure posting of officials in single handed & double handed post offices

 To view the copy of order issued by Postal Directorate, please CLICK HERE.

Instant money order a boon for customers

ALLAHABAD: Gone are the days when you waited anxiously for the postman to arrive with money order. India Post's i-MO is a web-based instant money transfer service offered by India Post to transfer money between two resident individuals within India.

Director postal services, Allahabad region, Krishna Kumar Yadav told TOI that money transferred through i-MO can be received by the payee within few minutes of the transfer. To make this user more cost-efficient for customers i-MO tariffs have been reduced lately. I-MO is an instant, reliable, affordable and most convenient way for transferring money within the country, for sending an amount up to Rs 50,000 a customer has to pay only Rs 120. Now, customers have to pay Rs 100 for an amount of Rs 1,000-10,000, Rs 110 for transfer between Rs 10,001 and 30,000, and Rs 120 for transfer between Rs 30,001 and Rs 50,000. The facility of ordinary money order is already being provided by India Post, in which Rs five is charged per Rs 100. The instant money order is much faster and efficient compared to ordinary money order.

To send money through i-MO, a customer is required to fill a "To Remit Payment Form" and submit it with money and i-MO commission at i-MO post office counter. i-MO counter clerk will give a printed receipt immediately after booking the i-MO that contains 16 digits i-MO number. This 16 digits i-MO number has to be conveyed by sender to the receiver over phone, SMS, or e-Mail or any other means. Receiver can collect money from any designated i-MO Post Office counter on presentation of the 16 digits i-MO number. He will be required to fill up a simple "To Make Payment Form" and submit it along with a copy of any of the prescribed Identity Proofs.

Reduction in Small Savings Agents’ Commission

The recommendation of Shyamala Gopinath Committee regarding agents’ commission was to reduce commission of 0.5% on Senior Citizens Savings Scheme (SCSS) and 1% on Public Provident Fund (PPF) to zero, reduce 4% commission under Mahila Pradhan Kshetriya Bachat Yojana (MPKBY) to 1% in a phased manner and to reduce 1% commission for all other schemes under Standardised Agency System (SAS) to 0.5%. The Government, after consulting all the stakeholders and the representations received, has decided to reduce the commission under PPF and SCSS to zero and under SAS to 0.5%. However, commission under MPKBY continues to be at 4% for the time being.

The main intention of these recommendations is to make these schemes more investor centric than agent centric. 

Representations of Small Savings Agents’ Association from various states including Mumbai were received in the past. Taking into account large number of representations received from Small Savings Agent’s Associations, Members of Parliament, other dignitaries and others, the Government accepted most of the recommendations of the Committee.