India 2018

Communications and Information Technology 103
remuneration to the Department of Posts. Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) has
a customer base of more than 35.62 cr. account holders as on March 31, 2017.
Savings bank facility is provided through a network of 1.54 lakh post offices
across the country. The post office savings bank operates savings accounts,
recurring deposit (RD), time deposit (TD), monthly income scheme (MIS), public
provident fund (PPF), national savings certificate (NSC), kisan vikas patra (KVP),
senior citizens savings scheme (SCSS) and sukanya samriddhi account. The
outstanding balance under all national savings schemes and saving certificates
in post office is over ` 7,29,394 cr. as on March 31, 2017.
Core Banking
The Core Banking Solution is a part of India Post IT modernization project and
aims to bring in various IT solutions with required IT infrastructure in post
offices. The project aims to implement core banking in all Departmental Post
Offices for small savings schemes during current plan period. The project will
bring in facilities of "any time anywhere banking", ATM and internet banking
facilities. As on 30th June, 2017, 23314 post offices have converted to CBS. ATMs
have been installed in 982 locations across the country.
Mutual Funds
The post office is playing an important role in extending the reach of the capital
market of the country and providing the common man easy access to market
based investment options. Presently, Mutual Fund products of UTI only are
being retailed through over 2000 post offices.
International Money Transfer Service
International money transfer service is a quick and easy way of transferring
personal remittances from abroad to beneficiaries in India. As a result of the
collaboration of Department of Posts, Government of India with Western Union
Financial Services a state-of-the-art international money transfer service is
available through the post offices in the country, which enables instantaneous
remittance of money from around 195 countries. Presently the service is available
from 9943 locations across the country.
National Pension Scheme
National pension scheme, earlier known as New Pension System (NPS), for
common citizens was introduced by government in 2009. India Post is a point
of presence for the national pension system. Subscribers (any Indian citizen) in
the age group of 18 to 55 can join NPS and contribute till the age of 60. These
pension contributions are invested in various schemes of different pension fund
managers appointed by Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority
(PFRDA).
Social Security Scheme
Jan Suraksha Schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY)
and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) were launched in 2015