Srinagar, 10 October (H.S.): India Post has opened more than 17 lakh Post Office Savings Bank accounts in Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Postmaster General, J&K Circle, Sagar Hanuman Singh, said today, highlighting the department's role in expanding financial inclusion and delivering banking and other essential services to remote and border areas.

Addressing a press conference at the Srinagar GPO Complex on the occasion of National Postal Week, being observed from October 9 to 15, Singh said India Post was leveraging technology to improve access to banking, insurance, postal and citizen-centric services across Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.

He said the department's extensive network connected urban centres, rural villages and remote areas, including Doda, Kishtwar, Gurez, Machil, Tetwal, Keran and Zanskar, ensuring last-mile delivery of essential services.

Highlighting the expansion of financial services, Singh said core banking, digital banking and e-KYC facilities had made transactions more convenient.

India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) was also providing doorstep banking, particularly benefiting people in geographically challenging areas.

Schemes such as the Sukanya Samriddhi Account were helping families save for the future of the girl child.

Singh said the department was modernising post offices through computerised operations, digital postal software, track-and-trace facilities and self-booking kiosks.

Its services include Speed Post, parcel and logistics operations, Aadhaar enrolment and updation, Postal Life Insurance (PLI) and Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI).

Post Office Passport Seva Kendras, operated in coordination with the Ministry of External Affairs, have also brought passport-related services closer to people across the three regions, he said.

Highlighting opportunities for local businesses, Singh said Dak Ghar Niryat Kendra was facilitating exports by helping artisans, craftsmen, micro, small and medium enterprises and other businesses with documentation, customs clearance, packaging, booking and tracking.

The initiative provides a postal channel for products such as walnuts, saffron, handicrafts, carpets, Pashmina and handloom goods to reach international markets.

The department is also supporting entrepreneurship through the delivery of PMEGP kits to artisans and beneficiaries in the Union Territories, he said.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Krishan Kumar