Department of Posts trained 2.15 lakh women, built 184 toilets and 59 feeding rooms under Gender Budget push in FY21-25
Parliamentary Standing Committee notes progress in gender inclusion, grievance redressal and export promotion, but flags gaps in fund utilization and pending complaints.
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The Department of Posts has reported steady progress in gender inclusion, grievance redressal and modernization efforts, according to the latest Standing Committee report on Communications and Information Technology on the ‘Demands for Grants (2025-26)’ relating to the Department of Posts (Ministry of Communications).
Read more: India’s postal network defies gobal decline; posts Rs 2,353 cr in letter delivery revenue in 2024-25
Under the Gender Budget initiative, the Department trained 2,15,512 women employees between FY21 and FY25. It has also constructed 184 ladies’ toilets and 59 feeding rooms across postal offices by March 2025, covering 56% of departmental buildings. Work is underway to expand these facilities to all offices in phases, it was informed.
The Depertment trained 26586 women employee in FY21, 25215 in FY22, 43330 in FY23, 63447 in FY24 and 56934 women employee in FY25.
On the customer service front, the Department handled 14.33 lakh complaints in FY25, with no cases pending beyond 180 days.
In the previous year (FY24), it had resolved 13.85 lakh out of 14.10 lakh complaints, but the Committee flagged delays, particularly in Maharashtra, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Haryana.
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In its efforts to boost exports, the Department has set up 1,013 Dak Ghar Niryat Kendras (DNKs) across 761 districts. Export bookings rose from 3.66 lakh shipments worth ₹78.7 crore in FY24 to 4.1 lakh shipments worth ₹102 crore in FY25, reflecting growing confidence in postal exports.
On the technology front, the Department spent ₹746.49 crore out of the ₹748 crore allocated for IT Modernization 2.0, achieving nearly 99% utilization after initial delays. The pilot phase of the IT 2.0 rollout has begun in the Karnataka Circle from May 2025.
The Committee, however, expressed concerns over low utilization of funds during the year, urging the Department to improve coordination with stakeholders like BSNL, NIC and IPPB, and to strengthen monitoring mechanisms for faster results.
It is to be noted that India’s traditional postal services, particularly Speed Post and Registered Letters, are not only surviving but growing steadily, both in volume and revenue.
Contrary to global trends that suggest a sharp decline in physical mail usage, the Department of Posts has witnessed an uptick in mail business over the past several years.
In a written response to the Lok Sabha on July 30, 2025, Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development Dr. Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar stated that postal traffic has grown from 72.61 crore in FY19 to 87.64 crore in FY25, while total revenue from Speed Post and Registered Letters increased from Rs 2,057.84 crore to Rs 2,352.55 crore in the same period.
