DARPAN launched for financial inclusion of rural population -Governance Now

DARPAN launched for financial inclusion of rural population

It will offer core banking services in rural areas

GN Bureau | December 21, 2017

#Financial Inclusion #Rural #DARPAN project #DARPAN #Manoj Sinha

Minister of communications, Manoj Sinha

Minister of communications Manoj Sinha on Thursday launched DARPAN (Digital Advancement of Rural Post Office for A New India) aimed at realising financial inclusion of un-banked rural population. The IT modernisation project, having an outlay of Rs 1400 crore, intends to provide a low power technology solution to each branch postmaster (BPM) which will enable each of approximately 1.29 lakhs branch post offices (BOs) to improve service delivery, the department of post said in a release.

Sinha said that 43,171 branch post offices have migrated under the DARPAN project with the aim of financial inclusion to rural population and it is targeted to complete the project by March 2018.

DARPAN offers core banking services. The core banking application covers following services: cash deposit in savings bank (SB) and recurring deposit (RD), withdrawal from savings bank, new account opening for SB and RD, higher value withdrawal, mini statement, Aadhaar seeding and daily transaction report.

"The application is used for the reimbursement of social security benefits to the needy across the country such as MNREGS, old age pension and DBT," the department said.

The project shall increase the rural reach of the department of posts and enable BOs to increase traffic of all financial remittances, savings accounts, rural postal life insurance, and cash certificates; improve mail operations processes by allowing for automated booking and delivery of accountable article; increase revenue using retail post business; provide third party applications; and make disbursements for social security schemes such as MGNREGS.

As part of IT modernisation project, the department of posts (DoP) has carried out business process reengineering across various functional areas and has created to-be processes that will enable it to achieve these objectives. As an achievement, department of posts has established 991 ATMs across the country, which are interoperable with other banks and the common people has directly benefited with the wide network of department of posts especially in rural areas.

Comments

Other News

Rafale review petitions dismissed

The supreme court on Thursday dismissed the petitions seeking a review of its December 2018 verdict on the Rafale deal. The bench found no merit in review petitions that had sought an investigation into the high-profile defence deal. “We don’t feel necessary to order FIR or rovin

Power struggle, stalemate lead to president’s rule in Maharashtra

Maharashtra has been placed under the president’s rule after the leading contenders failed to make a head start in government formation amid tussle for power. Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari informed the president Tuesday that despite all efforts he did not see any possibility of gover

From Jal Shakti to Jal Prabandhan

This piece is based on a previous article by the authors published in Geoforum [Elsevier] in May 2019: available online: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/ S0016718519300764?via%3Dihub

Shiv Sena set to form government in Maharashtra

The BJP’s oldest ally Shiv Sena is once again parting ways, putting their alliance behind and preparing to form government in Maharashtra with the support of the NCP and Congress. Nineteen days after the legislative assembly elections, despite a clear mandate for the BJP and Sena, Maha

Ayodhya: temple at disputed site, alternative land for mosque

A resolution to the long-pending dispute which has to an extent shaped the recent history of India was in sight as the supreme court on Saturday paved the way for the construction of a temple at the disputed site where the Babri Mosque stood for long but is held to be Lord Ram`s birth place. A five

Moody’s changes India outlook, FinMin cites robust fundmanetals

The global rating agency Moody’s Investors Service has changed its outlook on India’s ratings from ‘stable’ to ‘negative’, but the finance ministry maintained that “the fundamentals of the economy remain quite robust”. On Thursday, Moody’