Ludhiana, December 5, 2023: MP (Rajya Sabha) from Ludhiana Sanjeev Arora spoke on the Post Office Bill 2023 in the ongoing winter session of the Rajya Sabha. In his address, he highlighted crucial aspects that need attention and proposed suggestions for a stronger and people-centric bill.

Arora suggested that post offices should be given a level playing field vis-a-vis other companies such as FedEx and Blue Dart. He pointed out that if some provisions of legislation are for post offices, some similar legislation should be brought for other companies also so that it is a level playing field.

He said he feels that there are no safeguards from interception, therefore, he requested that the powers for the same should only be given to high-ranking officials to avoid arbitrary actions against individuals. He said the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee only on this issue had not gotten the bill passed in 2002. He, therefore, requested that this point may be taken care of.

He also pointed out that the Consumer Protection Act does not apply to post offices. It applies to the Railways, Oil Companies, and many other organizations. He demanded that this Act should be applied to post offices also to safeguard consumers.

Further, Arora mentioned that the bill says that it does not involve recurring or non-recurring financial expenditure whereas the post office regularly gets budgetary support, which is fine, but it is contradictory to facts presented to the bill.

Arora suggested that post offices should be involved in B2B logistics also as much as possible. There is land available with all the post offices. They can be converted into warehouses because now online ordering is extremely popular. He pointed out that if these companies open the warehouses in the post offices, it will bring them nearer and the time of order of delivery will be quicker. At the same time, it will increase the income of post offices, making them self-sufficient.

Further, he stated that all post offices are being used for banking purposes, which is good. But these days everybody wants to invest money in stock markets. He, therefore, advised that letting the post offices allow us to deal in mutual funds. He said there are some people who are tax savvy, and some are non-tax savvy. Non-tax savvy can go to post offices and still invest in mutual funds. This investment will go to stock markets, which will help with the growth of the markets as a whole.

He thanked Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar for giving him time to speak on this important bill which affects all of the population. He appreciated for bringing an Act after 125 years of the old Act made by Britishers.