The government's decision to energise the once-vibrant postal department with e-services, along with strengthened logistics, has been received with mixed reactions. Although there were voices raised for sometime now to make effective use of the country-wide postal network -- now almost non-functional -- the ways to do so were not clear enough. Understandably, the thought of utilising the idle postal network ran short of ideas. Now that the government has announced its schemes, many quarters are sceptical that these may not auger well with the current state of things, especially in the context of the services delivered by the private sector.
It has recently been reported in the media that revamping of the postal services, in keeping with the present-day needs of electronic services by most clients, is being undertaken under a Tk 5.41 billion project. As a starter to launch e-commerce, the postal department is set to start a pilot project at the divisional headquarters by December this year. The department aims to use its network of 8,500 post offices to offer the services and become the market leader in e-commerce. Bangladesh's e-commerce sector is reportedly growing at around 8.0 to 10 per cent a year in a market estimated to be well over Tk 2.0 billion.
In such a situation, there is nothing wrong in eying the e-services sector to gain from the abundant opportunities currently being reaped by the private sector. This is more so because of the perilous state the postal department is in at the moment, due mainly to its paltry income and ever-increasing expenditure. In the fiscal 2014-15, earnings from revenues of the department stood at Tk 2.53 billion as against more than twice the amount in expenditure, at Tk 5.20 billion. The scenario was more or less the same over the past four years or so in a row. Thus innovating new ways to generate income through improved services and making those demand-driven is integral to the survival of the postal department. No one will deny the long history of laudable services rendered by the postal department in this country. Hence, reviving it, not only for profit but also for offering services in a changed, technology-driven time, must not be questioned. But the ways of doing so have run into questioning.
Isn't the task a bit too challenging for a government organisation that grew out of routine activities? Some of the electronic postal services already in operation such as postal cash cards, electronic money transfer have, reportedly, not been met with expected results. Some of the other services, meant essentially for the postal department, such as dispatching letters, documents, parcels etc., are being done quite efficiently by the private courier services. The challenge is thus broadly two-fold. Equipping the postal network with human and technical resources on the one hand, and reinstating the trust of the people in the new services, on the other. The authorities planning to strengthen the postal services must be aware of this; and being aware means they will have to put in not just their best but deliver services that merits to be the best.
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Quelle/Source: thefinancialexpress, 24.10.2015
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