Letters: Repair before reforms

Apropos Madan Sabnavis' article "Why 'Post Bank Of India' has few assets" (March 11), the idea of converting post offices as commercial banks is preposterous. The advocates for this idea were probably fascinated by the sheer reach and number of post offices in India. Although this single factor is of utmost importance in the context of delivery of financial benefits directly in the hands of the beneficiaries, the overall implications of converting post offices into a bank need to be studied carefully. A closer look suggests that the working and structure of post offices will need to be radically overhauled. The savings bank account and investment instrument functions of the post offices have outlived the utility in the presence of a large number of bank branches and other financial intermediaries in metros and other big cities. These functions of post offices should be stopped in big cities and the surplus staff should move to provide these services in smaller cities and villages.

Naresh Saxena, New Delhi

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