'RBI may give payment bank licence to post dept by Sept'

The Reserve Bank is expected to grant payment bank licence to the postal department by September for operating Post Bank, Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Thursday.

Affirming commitment to honour "Dakia" (post man) in a bid to re-energise the Department of Posts, he said: "You will be happy to know that RBI will grant payment bank licence to the postal department."

This will enable the network of 1,54,000 post offices (including 1,25,000 rural post offices) to offer banking services to the masses in the country, he said.

While there was core banking solution only in 236 post offices till NDA government came to power last year, the number of such facilities was extended to 2,590 post offices, he said.

DoP, he said, has changed its working style and achieved a turnover of Rs 500 crore in 5-6 months. The centre's "Sukanya Samridhi Yojana", Postal Life Insurance, Jan Dhan Yojana and others were launched to empower the rural and poor people, he said, adding that "at least 52 lakh accounts have been opened under Sukanya Samridhi Yojana".

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At foundation stone laying ceremony of Post Office building here, he said DoP also has a great potential to make Digital India programme a success.

On Digital India programme, Prasad said the country has as many as 98 crore mobile phones and 30 crore Internet connections in a population of 125 crores. "We target to provide Internet connection to 50 crore people and make mobile phones available to 120 crore users in next two years. The Digital India programme will help growth of the country's economy," he said.

The minister, however, urged people not to make Digital India programme a political issue as it would connect people and empower them both economically and socially. E-commerce, with a total volume of Rs 17,000 crore, has a great future in the country, he said.

Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan said "digital technology is no more in the domain of the elite. This is now at the hands of common men".