Post offices to offer government securities, banking -->
Indo-Asian News Service
Chennai, July 18 (IANS) The local post office in India is due for a dramatic makeover that will make it an economic hub for bill payments and a cyber café.At the annual conference of heads of postal circles here Monday, Communications and IT Minister Dayanidhi Maran launched a scheme in which government securities will be available through post offices."The focus of the department will be on be quality-conscious, market-driven and customer-friendly schemes," said Secretary of Posts R. Ganesan.As many as 33 post offices in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, New Delhi and Mumbai will offer government securities through a scheme run by IDBI Capital Market Services.Any adult with a demat account with the National Securities Depository Limited or with the Central Depository Services Limited can buy securities with minimum face value of Rs.10,000 and multiples of Rs.1,000 thereafter. IDBI Capital Market Services is a leading financial services provider and a subsidiary of IDBI Bank."Government securities are an excellent option for individuals desiring regular interest income without compromising on the safety of their investment," said IDBI Capital chairman S. Muhnot, who signed an agreement with India Posts in the presence of Maran. "Plans are afoot to turn 100,000 post offices in the country to common service centres by the yearend," Maran said.Each post office serving as a cyber-cafe and collection centre for electricity and phone bills will be connected to six villages. Postmen will collect money for postal savings from the doorstep and deliver it to the customer on maturity. Maran said his department would push for more power for post offices to enable them to function as banks.
Indo-Asian News ServiceFor clarifications/queries, please contact IANS NEWS DESK at 2616-5778/8546, 2617-3369 or mail us atsupport@eians.com
Saturday, July 23, 2005
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