The Andhra Pradesh circle of the postal department has drawn up plans to improve public services by adopting modern technology. For the first time in the country, it is set to implement a pilot scheme that facilitates the electronic monitoring of letter box clearance.
Developed by the software section of the postal department, the technology involves a handheld device which will transfer the data electronically to the Central Data Centre, providing details of the number of letter boxes opened and those cleared at any given time.
Each time the letter box is opened, the information is transmitted to the Data Centre, indicating the time and the number of times the letter box has been opened, the Chief Post Master General of the Andhra Pradesh circle, B V Sudhakar said.
The department had conducted a survey and found that there were several letter boxes which were almost empty while some others were overflowing with letters for want of clearance on time.
The hand-held devices will be given to postmen who, while clearing the letter box, will feed the data, the official explained. Earlier, the department had no way of knowing whether a letter box had been opened or not. There have been complaints from the public that letters did not reach on time.
The scheme, currently undergoing trials with satisfactory results, will be launched in the second week of December. The postmen will start using these handheld devices. Once it is successful, the technology will be replicated across India, Sudhakar said.
At a later stage, solar panels will be fitted to the letter boxes, which will record the movement of the door whenever it is opened. On opening, a signal will be transmitted to the central data centre.
Nearly 75 lakh mails are cleared all over the state every day, including 20 lakh in the city. Majority of them are business mails.
Across the country, 1.72 crore mails are cleared daily. The state circle is handling Speed Post, registered post, money orders, besides others. In addition, it is also handling Aadhaar cards and has delivered approximately 5.5 crores of Aadhaar cards statewide.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> National / DHNS – Hyderabad, November 28th, 2013