(BSS) – Directorate of Posts has started piloting of an entrepreneur-based franchise post office to implement the government’s 180-day action plan.
In addition, it has taken preparations to supply more than 312 tonnes of seasonal fruits, integrate digital services and launch 14 fulfillment centres to provide logistical support in the e-commerce sector.
Officials at the Directorate of Posts said in line with election manifesto of the incumbent BNP government, led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, the traditional institution is gradually transforming into a modern logistics service provider through these initiatives.
Under the supervision of the Directorate of Posts, seven sector-based activities are moving forward simultaneously with these three goals – employment creation, improvement of service quality and digital transformation.
The officials said the franchise post office model is one of remarkable initiatives taken to create employment opportunity.
Officials also motioned, Piloting of pickup and delivery services through entrepreneurs has already started.
Outlining the overall objective of this initiative, Director General of the Directorate of Posts Kazi Asadul Islam said although the era of letters is over, the postal directorate is being developed as a completely modern and people-friendly logistics service provider in line with the needs of the era.
If the franchise model is introduced, the time and geographical limitations of postal services will be removed, he told BSS.
He said if private entrepreneurs are involved outside the network of post offices, a large number of jobs will be created and citizens will also get postal services without any time constraints.
Explaining the operating method of this model, Director of the Directorate of Posts Dr Mohammad Ziaur Rahman said contracts will be signed with the interested person or organisation in accordance with the rules and regulations of the directorate, under which they will mainly carry out the work of collecting and delivering goods (pickup and delivery) in accordance with the prescribed rules and regulations.
He said these franchises will be operated under the direct supervision of the postal directorate and if the quality of service deteriorates or any rule is violated, the contract will be revoked with the concerned person or organisation.
A significant progress has been made in the transportation of agricultural products in the first six months of the BNP government.
As per the government’s 180-day action plan, over 312 tonnes of seasonal fruits have been safely collected from the source districts in the current season and delivered to the doorsteps of customers. This time, these fruits have been collected from almost every district of the country.
The officials said the technical preparation of two new technology-based services has already been completed. The necessary technical integration has been completed to send documents related to traffic cases (video cases, traffic notices, etc) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) to the address of the recipients by post, which is being added as a new agency service of the directorate.
At the same time, the technical integration of collecting postal life insurance premiums through the postal directorate’s digital financial service ‘Nagad’ has also been completed.
With this initiative, customers will be able to pay the insurance premiums sitting at home without going to the post office.
According to the Directorate of Posts, as part of the modernisation of mail processing and logistics services, 6,000 android mobiles, 6,000 thermal printers and 500 computers are being supplied to various post offices in the country, while work on developing three mail monitoring software is also underway.
Also it says, some 50 electric bikes (e-bikes) have already been added to the fleet to ensure environmental-friendly transport system.
In addition, 33 new delivery mail vans received from the Universal Postal Union (UPU) have already been added to the mail lines of the Directorate of Posts nationwide with the aim of improving postal services.
The official sources said the fulfillment centre initiative is going to have the longest-term impact in this 180-day programme.
The work of launching 14 fulfillment centres of the Directorate of Posts is on process to manage the collection, storage, processing, booking, sorting, transportation and delivery of products in the e-commerce and f-commerce sectors across the country.
These 14 centres will be set up in Tejgaon of Dhaka, Gopalganj, Ishwardi, Mymensingh, Khulna, Chattogram, Noakhali, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Barishal, Dinajpur, Habiganj, Kushtia and Jashore.
In this regard, Dr Ziaur Rahman said the construction of modern facilities has already been completed in these 14 places of the country, including Dhaka. Now, only after some administrative and procedural steps are completed, it will be possible to officially launch the operations, he said.
Officials told BSS, if these initiatives taken under the government’s 180-day action plan are fully implemented, the scope and quality of the postal services will increase on the one hand, and on the other, the position of the directorate as a government institution in the digital and e-commerce-based economy will be further strengthened.
