India Post designs 22 new routes connecting 75 cities to deliver essentials faster

KOLKATA: The Department of Posts (DoP) Services has completed designing a national road network which covers 22 long routes through different parts of India. This network should span a total of 500 Kilometres touching 75 different cities across several states. Its aim is to bolster the supply chain in India.

The Postal Department intends to use these roads to deliver essential goods using its own fleet of vans. These are the same vans that the Postal Department had to use for delivering postal items like mails and parcels within city limits.

In a statement, a Postal department official announced, “A National Road Transport network was designed with 22 long routes of over 500 kilometres interspersed with 34 interstate/intra-state schedules touching over 75 cities across the country. This initiative will now ensure that there is a movement of essential items within the country as the Department of Posts will be able to deliver parcels carrying essential items anywhere in the country.”

In normal circumstances, the postal department, brand named India Post, would avail services like cargo flights, passenger flights and trains, to ship items between cities.

This road network design is one of the number of initiatives that the Department of Posts has taken to ensure the supply of essential goods like PPE, medicines, sanitizers and other medical equipment to various parts of the country, the statement added.

On Friday, Minister of State for Communications and Human Resources Department, Sanjay Dhotre held a virtual meeting with the Postal department board members and other personnel. He expressed his gratification by calling DoP “a trusted partner of all State Governments & all Central Government Departments in the fight against COVID-19.”

Dhotre also acknowledged the various measures that DoP has undertaken till now while advising them to follow the norms set by our government during lock-down while they exert themselves fully in service of our nation.

“The Minister was informed that most of the Post Offices across the country except those in the containment zone are functional and delivering services. Special priority is being given to the delivery of essential items including medicines, COVID-19 test kits, masks, sanitizers, PPEs and medical equipment including ventilators and defibrillators,” the DoP said in a separate statement.

“Several State Postal units like the ones in West Bengal, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Maharashtra have entered into tie-ups with Director General of Health Services, Indian Drug Manufacturers Association, online pharmaceutical companies and suppliers of coronavirus test kits”, the statement said.