Comments on: Indian Public Services - Crying for Change http://6ampacific.com/2006/10/08/indian-public-services-crying-for-change/ Basab Pradhan's weblog about business and life in a 'flat world'. 6 AM Pacific is the best time for a global conference call. Sat, 06 Sep 2008 01:43:21 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 By: 6 AM Pacific » Blog Archive » Getting Roadside Directions in India http://6ampacific.com/2006/10/08/indian-public-services-crying-for-change/#comment-14967 6 AM Pacific » Blog Archive » Getting Roadside Directions in India Mon, 25 Aug 2008 03:31:03 +0000 http://6ampacific.com/archives/46#comment-14967 [...] room for the city and state at the bottom of the envelope. Given the wear and tear on mail in the Indian Postal Service, it is possible that there are many postal items that lie in the dead letter office that have [...] […] room for the city and state at the bottom of the envelope. Given the wear and tear on mail in the Indian Postal Service, it is possible that there are many postal items that lie in the dead letter office that have […]

]]> By: Basab http://6ampacific.com/2006/10/08/indian-public-services-crying-for-change/#comment-11523 Basab Wed, 06 Feb 2008 16:30:09 +0000 http://6ampacific.com/archives/46#comment-11523 This post seems to have a long shelf life. Wonder why?! Sunil, agree with you wholeheartedly. The leadership must be held accountable for the lack of change. 'Dark' Bhavan indeed! Saumitri, my experience with USPS is quite different. This post seems to have a long shelf life. Wonder why?!

Sunil, agree with you wholeheartedly. The leadership must be held accountable for the lack of change. ‘Dark’ Bhavan indeed!

Saumitri, my experience with USPS is quite different.

]]> By: Saumitri http://6ampacific.com/2006/10/08/indian-public-services-crying-for-change/#comment-11516 Saumitri Wed, 06 Feb 2008 10:50:40 +0000 http://6ampacific.com/archives/46#comment-11516 Basab, I don't respect the WSJ too much. Infact I don't respect much of any of the US based research. Mostly they are out of context. I have used USPS. Firstly, its difficult to locate a branch and mostly they are so few that you need to travel miles to get to one. In comparison an Indian post office is easily accessible. In the US, I hardly use USPS - its irrelevant - I use UPS. The Indian Postal Service, inspite of its government shackles, actually is pretty efficient. You can actually get a registered letter in 1 or 2 weeks, which is pretty fine. A speed post does reach in 2 or 3 days. Even a normal letter does reach in 2 or 3 weeks. Infact I think the IPS is perhaps the only efficient service we have in India, in comparison to the others. Yes a lot needs to be still done, and I have seen many things happening. The post office I have been using has upgraded to using computers and I don't think that computers sitting near the stove is the general scenario. The "angrez" have a habit of taking pictures of cows in the middle of the road when they come to India, and I am not surprised if they highlight computers near the stove as well. The private alternative hasn't been good enough either. Courier companies haven't been able to push the humble post office out - have they? Blue Dart is costly, and only as good as the speed post - not better. And the others like Overnite Express and the local ones are used only by corporates because of their easy collection facility. But they are only as safe as the IPS - not better. The problems of IPS, lies elsewhere and is not uncommon to all the other government services. Service orientation has not pervaded the Indian government service consciousness, because they still believe they are His/Her Majesty's agents who need to rule the common Indian population. If the government services realise that now they are in service of the common man then that is the orientation required. But such a mindset change needs time. Basab,

I don’t respect the WSJ too much. Infact I don’t respect much of any of the US based research. Mostly they are out of context.

I have used USPS. Firstly, its difficult to locate a branch and mostly they are so few that you need to travel miles to get to one. In comparison an Indian post office is easily accessible. In the US, I hardly use USPS - its irrelevant - I use UPS.

The Indian Postal Service, inspite of its government shackles, actually is pretty efficient. You can actually get a registered letter in 1 or 2 weeks, which is pretty fine. A speed post does reach in 2 or 3 days. Even a normal letter does reach in 2 or 3 weeks. Infact I think the IPS is perhaps the only efficient service we have in India, in comparison to the others.

Yes a lot needs to be still done, and I have seen many things happening.

The post office I have been using has upgraded to using computers and I don’t think that computers sitting near the stove is the general scenario. The “angrez” have a habit of taking pictures of cows in the middle of the road when they come to India, and I am not surprised if they highlight computers near the stove as well.

The private alternative hasn’t been good enough either. Courier companies haven’t been able to push the humble post office out - have they?

Blue Dart is costly, and only as good as the speed post - not better. And the others like Overnite Express and the local ones are used only by corporates because of their easy collection facility. But they are only as safe as the IPS - not better.

The problems of IPS, lies elsewhere and is not uncommon to all the other government services. Service orientation has not pervaded the Indian government service consciousness, because they still believe they are His/Her Majesty’s agents who need to rule the common Indian population. If the government services realise that now they are in service of the common man then that is the orientation required. But such a mindset change needs time.

]]> By: sunil http://6ampacific.com/2006/10/08/indian-public-services-crying-for-change/#comment-11509 sunil Wed, 06 Feb 2008 04:53:05 +0000 http://6ampacific.com/archives/46#comment-11509 sir congrats for this well crafted article. but at the same time i have some points of disagreements. the only reson of the plight of india post is that the IPS cadre is still living in fairy world that everything is fine and the department is doing good. there the lack of courage in the officer cadre to talk of problems let us forget the solution. we often blame the leagal problems for our poor performance. but who stops us form taking decisions for making our premium services a customer's delight. it is the tendency to not to take decisions that is eating the roots of the service. finally we should not forget that the fate of the service will determine the fate of its officers. if the department collpase, we cannot walk away silently. if the dark bhawan does not wake up now, there will be no dark bhawan to work. sir
congrats for this well crafted article. but at the same time i have some points of disagreements. the only reson of the plight of india post is that the IPS cadre is still living in fairy world that everything is fine and the department is doing good. there the lack of courage in the officer cadre to talk of problems let us forget the solution. we often blame the leagal problems for our poor performance. but who stops us form taking decisions for making our premium services a customer’s delight. it is the tendency to not to take decisions that is eating the roots of the service.
finally we should not forget that the fate of the service will determine the fate of its officers. if the department collpase, we cannot walk away silently. if the dark bhawan does not wake up now, there will be no dark bhawan to work.

]]> By: S. Krishnamoorthy http://6ampacific.com/2006/10/08/indian-public-services-crying-for-change/#comment-10397 S. Krishnamoorthy Sun, 13 Jan 2008 06:17:18 +0000 http://6ampacific.com/archives/46#comment-10397 This is with reference to the comments of Rajeev on Bill Mail Service. He is not correct. BMS is a pan-Indian Service. The two conditions are (1) you should mail a minimum of 5000 pieces at a time (2) The mail should be sorted pincode-wise and handed over to the counter of the post office. The post office has not clearly defined what constitutes communication of personal character. As a result, there is large-scale abuse of this service inflicting enormous loss to the post office. This is with reference to the comments of Rajeev on Bill Mail Service. He is not correct. BMS is a pan-Indian Service. The two conditions are (1) you should mail a minimum of 5000 pieces at a time (2) The mail should be sorted pincode-wise and handed over to the counter of the post office. The post office has not clearly defined what constitutes communication of personal character. As a result, there is large-scale abuse of this service inflicting enormous loss to the post office.

]]> By: Mukesh Patel http://6ampacific.com/2006/10/08/indian-public-services-crying-for-change/#comment-8609 Mukesh Patel Wed, 07 Nov 2007 15:14:18 +0000 http://6ampacific.com/archives/46#comment-8609 The views are diverse but a point to be raised is earlier it was Post & Telegraph, telegraph was later taken off, likewise Telephone was privatised into Telephone Nigams all went better, why then Indiapost can't go that way rather then selling tea. The views are diverse but a point to be raised is earlier it was Post & Telegraph, telegraph was later taken off, likewise Telephone was privatised into Telephone Nigams all went better, why then Indiapost can’t go that way rather then selling tea.

]]> By: A post about the Post « A wide angle view of India http://6ampacific.com/2006/10/08/indian-public-services-crying-for-change/#comment-7947 A post about the Post « A wide angle view of India Thu, 04 Oct 2007 03:11:36 +0000 http://6ampacific.com/archives/46#comment-7947 [...] True there are those who have reasons to criticize our postal system which is unwieldy because of labour laws (which means you can’t downsize or streamline), but I think that taking this into consideration we are doing great. We have to admit that our postal system is a giant, a giant corporation not focussed on profits. Its a subsidized government public service. However, I feel that we shouldn’t simply dismiss or hate our postal system (which people are wont to do nowadays) as its got its good points. Why not see things in perspective? Its not as if they have not modernized at all. Some of their relatively new initiatives are: [...] […] True there are those who have reasons to criticize our postal system which is unwieldy because of labour laws (which means you can’t downsize or streamline), but I think that taking this into consideration we are doing great. We have to admit that our postal system is a giant, a giant corporation not focussed on profits. Its a subsidized government public service. However, I feel that we shouldn’t simply dismiss or hate our postal system (which people are wont to do nowadays) as its got its good points. Why not see things in perspective? Its not as if they have not modernized at all. Some of their relatively new initiatives are: […]

]]> By: rajeev http://6ampacific.com/2006/10/08/indian-public-services-crying-for-change/#comment-6988 rajeev Sat, 21 Jul 2007 18:49:15 +0000 http://6ampacific.com/archives/46#comment-6988 to add further i had never missed a mail in southern indian postal network and had always seen a very good counter service too. indiapost has deposits of around 4 lakh crores as small savings which it collects on behalf of finance ministry. but unfortunately it does not lend the money or manage treasury operations and hence it cannot make a profit on that front too.( how much money one can make on the float alone i wonder) in fact i had heard it gets Rs.100 for each account it holds from ministry of finance. it is pittance compared to the 200 rs i paid for using the counter service of citibank once. suppose if in a remote village some one deposits 20 rs a month for 12 transactions and makes some with drawals imagine the cash management one has to do of transferring the cash to the tresury and other expenses of maintaing the accounts and of transferring money back for any heavy withdrawals. i had also read some time back that they have no autonomy to close down unviable branches due to political interference and unionism. if government gives them free hand by making it a corporation they can also improve in the same way as SBI. by the way there is no comparison with railways as indian railways is still a monopoly and the way technology has affected indiapost i think it has not affected railways. they have a separate budget too and they can borrow from other sources but indiapost depends on ministry of finance still for its budget. unless indiapost is made to be profitable and self sufficient they cannot modernise themselves as they would be strapped of cash and would be dependent on finance ministry to add further
i had never missed a mail in southern indian postal network and had always seen a very good counter service too.
indiapost has deposits of around 4 lakh crores as small savings which it collects on behalf of finance ministry. but unfortunately it does not lend the money or manage treasury operations and hence it cannot make a profit on that front too.( how much money one can make on the float alone i wonder) in fact i had heard it gets Rs.100 for each account it holds from ministry of finance. it is pittance compared to the 200 rs i paid for using the counter service of citibank once. suppose if in a remote village some one deposits 20 rs a month for 12 transactions and makes some with drawals imagine the cash management one has to do of transferring the cash to the tresury and other expenses of maintaing the accounts and of transferring money back for any heavy withdrawals.
i had also read some time back that they have no autonomy to close down unviable branches due to political interference and unionism. if government gives them free hand by making it a corporation they can also improve in the same way as SBI. by the way there is no comparison with railways as indian railways is still a monopoly and the way technology has affected indiapost i think it has not affected railways. they have a separate budget too and they can borrow from other sources but indiapost depends on ministry of finance still for its budget. unless indiapost is made to be profitable and self sufficient they cannot modernise themselves as they would be strapped of cash and would be dependent on finance ministry

]]> By: rajeev http://6ampacific.com/2006/10/08/indian-public-services-crying-for-change/#comment-6987 rajeev Sat, 21 Jul 2007 18:30:20 +0000 http://6ampacific.com/archives/46#comment-6987 regarding krishnamurthy's comments- bill mail service is not a pan indian delivery service. bill mail is restricted to delivery within a district or a metro city. this is a response from indiapost i guess to regain the share it had lost to couriers and metros for local business mail. so his contention that it is misused with collusion with postal staff i guess is incorrect. indiapost's biggest strength is its network and it is its weakness too. imagine running a network of 1.5 lakh post offices ( largest in the world) i dont think that such a network with 5 lakh employees could be managed by any organisation without basic strong management. in fact the service also differs with the work ethics of the state concerned. i had always benefitted by excellent service by southern postal network. but when i was working at U.P i found one of my letters did not reach me at all which had a greeting acrd with chime. regarding krishnamurthy’s comments- bill mail service is not a pan indian delivery service. bill mail is restricted to delivery within a district or a metro city. this is a response from indiapost i guess to regain the share it had lost to couriers and metros for local business mail. so his contention that it is misused with collusion with postal staff i guess is incorrect.
indiapost’s biggest strength is its network and it is its weakness too. imagine running a network of 1.5 lakh post offices ( largest in the world) i dont think that such a network with 5 lakh employees could be managed by any organisation without basic strong management. in fact the service also differs with the work ethics of the state concerned. i had always benefitted by excellent service by southern postal network. but when i was working at U.P i found one of my letters did not reach me at all which had a greeting acrd with chime.

]]> By: 6 AM Pacific » Blog Archive » Leadership Challenges – the Fog of Economics http://6ampacific.com/2006/10/08/indian-public-services-crying-for-change/#comment-6574 6 AM Pacific » Blog Archive » Leadership Challenges – the Fog of Economics Sun, 10 Jun 2007 16:55:59 +0000 http://6ampacific.com/archives/46#comment-6574 [...] 6 AM Pacific » Blog Archive » Leadership Challenges – the Fog of Economics on Indian Public Services - Crying for ChangeAbhinav on Leadership Challenges – the Fog ofon Leadership Challenges – the Fog of EconomicsRopeWalker on A Tale of Two TechiesS. Krishnamoorthy on Indian Public Services - Crying forChange [...] […] 6 AM Pacific » Blog Archive » Leadership Challenges – the Fog of Economics on Indian Public Services - Crying for ChangeAbhinav on Leadership Challenges – the Fog ofon Leadership Challenges – the Fog of EconomicsRopeWalker on A Tale of Two TechiesS. Krishnamoorthy on Indian Public Services - Crying forChange […]

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