Postal dept seeks to bag rural jobs deal

After securing a deal to disburse wages to those employed under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme in Andhra Pradesh, the department of post has approached the Centre seeking to take part in implementation of other welfare schemes as well.

The Andhra Pradesh arrangement implies that it will be postmen and not contractors who will hand out wages on a weekly basis.

The employment programme guarantees 100 days of work to every household in the 200 most backward districts of the country, to adult members who volunteer to perform manual labour.

The department has also proposed that it be entrusted with disbursing wages under the programme when the scheme is extended to other parts of the country.

Officials said these proposals were part of the department's new initiatives for this fiscal year, and added that it favoured a commission-based system which would generate additional revenue without increasing spending as postmen were already deputed across the country.

"These measures can help us achieve self-sufficiency while continuing to fulfill the Universal Service Obligation," an official said.

The other scheme the department is eyeing involves delivering benefits under the proposed Unorganised Sector Workers' Security Bill, which envisages a minimum social security cover including health and life insurance, old-age pension and maternity benefits for all workers earning up to Rs 5,000 a month. Under the proposed Bill, workers, their employers and the government will each contribute Re 1 every day.

Officials feel using postmen to disburse wages would help in reducing corruption.