New Delhi:
The government is planning to open all-women post offices in rural areas where working women are available.
"We want to open such post offices in other parts of the country as well. The Department (of Posts) decides where women are available and doing jobs. If you go in to rural areas, you would not be able to find a (big) number. We will start with urban centres and then slowly move to other areas," Telecom and IT Minister Kapil Sibal told PTI.
All-women post offices are the first of their kind in the world as they are completely operated and managed by women employees.
Till date, two All Women POs (post offices) have been inaugurated by Mr Sibal in Delhi at Shastri Bhawan and Delhi University.
Secretary (Posts) P Gopinath inaugurated one such branch in Town Hall area of Mumbai and another one in Hyderabad.
The Minister said such initiatives are part of government's objective to create opportunities for women in the country.
At present, Department of Posts has a plan to set up at least three to four All-Women post offices in all the metros and a minimum of one such PO in Tier-II cities.
"These post offices will be opened up within next six months," Gopinath said.
By setting up All Women POs, the DoP expects there will an increase in footfall of women customers at post offices and it will be able to promote thrift, especially among working women.
There are 1,54,822 post offices in the country. Of these, 1,39,086 are in rural areas and 15,736 are in urban regions.