NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha on Monday passed the Post Office Bill, 2023, that seeks to repeal the 125-year-old Indian Post Office Act with a view to govern the functioning of post offices in the country and simplify the legislative framework to facilitate the evolution of post offices into a network for delivery of citizen-centric services.
According to the proposed legislation, “the central government may, by notification, empower any officer to intercept, open or detain any item in the interest of the security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, emergency or public safety, or upon the occurrence of any contravention of any of the provisions of any law for the time being in force”. The bill seeks to empower the director general of postal services to frame regulations in respect of activities necessary to provide services and fix the charges for such services.
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Many members from opposition parties raised concern about certain provisions and claimed they could endanger the privacy of individuals whose posts and consignments could be put through scrutiny and opened by the postal office in the name of threat to national security.
Replying to the discussion on the bill, communications and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw tried to allay concerns over the provision for interception and said, “In a society which is as complex and diverse, and times which are as difficult as they are, it is very important that interception is done. This kind of provision is kept for national security.” The bill was introduced in Rajya Sabha in the monsoon session.
According to the statement of objects and reasons of the bill, over the years, services available through post offices had diversified beyond mail and the post office network had become a vehicle for delivery of a variety of citizen-centric services, which necessitated the repeal of the Indian Post Office Act, which was enacted in 1898 primarily to address mail services provided through post offices.
