Ministry of Communications (India)

Ministry of Communications

Emblem of India
Ministry overview
Preceding Ministry	Ministry of Communications and Information Technology
Jurisdiction	Republic of India
Headquarters	Sanchar Bhawan, New Delhi, India 22°37′20″N 77°12′50″E / 22.62222°N 77.21389°E / 22.62222; 77.21389
Minister responsible	Manoj Sinha, Minister of state (Independent charge)
Child agencies	Department of Telecommunications Department of Posts
Website	deity.gov.in

Ministry of Communications was carved out of Ministry of Communications and Information Technology on 19 July 2016. It consists of two departments viz. Department of Telecommunications and Department of Posts.

Formation

Ministry of Communication and Information Technology was bifurcated into Ministry of Communications and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.^[1]

Department of Telecommunications

Also known as the Door Sanchar Vibhag, this department concerns itself with policy, licensing and coordination matters relating to telegraphs, telephones, wireless, data, facsimile and telematic services and other like forms of communications. It also looks into the administration of laws with respect to any of the matters specified, namely:

• The Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 (13 of 1885)
• The Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1940 (17 of 1933)
• The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 (24 of 1997)

Public sector units

• Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited
• Indian Telephone Industries Limited
• Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited
• Telecommunications Consultants India Limited

R&D unit

• Centre for Development of Telematics

Other units

• Wireless Planning and Coordination Wing
• Telecom Engineering Center^[2]
• Controller of Communication Accounts
• Telecom Enforcement Resource and Monitoring (TERM) cells, formerly known as Vigilance & Telecom Monitoring (VTM) cells

A need was felt in the year 2007 to distinctly address the issues of Communication Network Security at DOT (HQ) level, consequent to enhancement of FDI limit in Telecom sector from 49% to 74% and therefore a new wing, named Security was created in DOT (HQ).

Objectives

• e-Government: Providing e-infrastructure for delivery of e-services
• e-Industry: Promotion of electronics hardware manufacturing and IT-ITeS industry
• e-Innovation / R&D: Implementation of R&D Framework - Enabling creation of Innovation/ R&D Infrastructure in emerging areas of ICT&E/Establishment of mechanism for R&D translation
• e-Learning: Providing support for development of e-Skills and Knowledge network
• e-Security: Securing India’s cyber space
• e-Inclusion: Promoting the use of ICT for more inclusive growth
• Internet Governance: Enhancing India’s role in Global Platforms of Internet Governance.

Telephone Advisory Committees

• Telephone Advisory Committees^{[3][4][5][6][7]}
• MTNL Website list of TAC members

Education

• National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology
• National Institute of Communication Finance
• National Agriculture Education Institute of Research & Resources India

Department of Posts

The Department of Posts (DoP) operates one of the oldest and most extensive mail services in the world. As of 31 March 2011, the Indian Postal Service has 154,866 post offices, of which 139,040 (89.78%) are in rural areas and 15,826 (10.22%) are in urban areas. It has 25,464 departmental PO s and 129,402 ED BPOs. At the time of independence, there were 23,344 post offices, which were primarily in urban area. Thus the network has registered a sevenfold growth since independence, with the focus of the expansion primarily in rural areas. On an average, a post office serves an area of 21.23 sq; km and a population of 7,114 people. This is the most widely distributed post office system in the world.^[8] The large numbers are a result of a long tradition of many disparate postal systems which were unified in the Indian Union post-Independence. Owing to this far-flung reach and its presence in remote areas, the Indian postal service is also involved in other services such as small savings banking and financial services., with about 25,464 full-time and 139,040 part-time post offices. It offers a whole range of products under posts, remittance, savings, insurance and philately. While the Director General is the head of operations, the Secretary is an adviser to the Minister. Both responsibilities are undertaken by one officer.

The DG is assisted by the Postal Services Board with six members: The six members of the Board hold portfolios of Personnel, Operations, Technology, Postal Life Insurance, Human Resources Development, Planning respectively. Manjula Parashar is the Secretary (Posts) and DG Posts as also the Chairman of the Postal Services Board. Shri Kamleshwar Prasad, Member (HRD), Ms. Suneeta Trivedi, Member (Planning), Ms. P. Gopinath, Member (Technology), ( Vacant No Incumbent holding the Post ) Member (Operations), Shri S. Sarkar, Member (PLI) & Chairman, Investment Board, and Ms. Yesodhara Menon, Member (Personnel). The national headquarters are at Delhi and functions from Dak Bhavan located at the junction of Parliament Street and Ashoka Road.

The annual revenue is around Rs.79 billion and expenditure is Rs.137. billion during 2011-2012 improved a lot from 45 billion income & expenses of 58 billion.

Lack of proper investment in infrastructure and technology is the reason for such low revenue. The present top management has already started investing in latest technology to improve the infrastructure. Quality of service is being improved and new products are being offered to meet the competition.

The field services are managed by Postal Circles—generally conforming to each State—except for the North Eastern States, India has been divided into 22 postal circles, each circle headed by a Chief Postmaster General. Each Circle is further divided into Regions comprising field units, called Divisions, headed by a Postmaster General. Further divided into divisions headed by SSPOs & SPOs. further divisions are divided into Sub Divisions Headed by ASPs &IPS. Other functional units like Circle Stamp Depots, Postal Stores Depots and Mail Motor Service may exist in the Circles and Regions.

Besides the 22 circles, there is a special Circle called the Base Circle to cater to the postal services of the Armed Forces of India. Army Postal Services (APS) is a unique arrangement to take care of the postal requirement of soldiers posted across the country. Department of Posts personnel are commissioned into the army to take care of APS. The Base Circle is headed by an Additional Director General, Army Postal Service holding the rank of a Major general.

The DoP is governed by the Indian Post Office Acts, 1898. Other than the traditional postage service in order to keep up with the age many new services have been introduced by the department:

• e-Post - Delivery of email through post man where email service is not available
• e-BillPost - Convenient way to pay bills under one roof
• Postal Life insurance
• International money transfers
• Mutual funds
• Banking

References

Union ministries of India
President (List) • Government of India • Prime Minister (List • Office) • Cabinet
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Defunct	Surface Transport Communications and Information Technology

Telephone Advisory Committees
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited Indian Telephone Industries Limited