Bihar post leads in country, delivers ₹16cr cash in a day

The state has set a milestone by delivering highest cash relief to the lockdown hit people.

The state has set a milestone by delivering highest cash relief to the lockdown hit people.

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On May 8, the Bihar postal circle delivered ₹16 crore in cash in about 1.94 lakh households — the highest cash delivered on a single day.

Across the country, the postal departments had delivered cash worth ₹65.50 crore in 4.70 lakh homes til Friday. The deliveries were made by postal agents through the department-based Aadhaar-enabled payment system (AEPS) from the accounts of individuals.

Bihar postal circle is followed by Uttar Pradesh in terms of cash payment made through AEPS. A sum of ₹15 crore cash was delivered among 1.10 lakh houses on the same day in UP.

Post master general, Eastern Bihar region, Anil Kumar said “₹8.60 crore was delivered at the doorsteps of 92,000 households through AEPS system in eastern region of the state.This is the biggest AEPS delivery made by the postal department on a single day.”

The cash amount delivered to the people mostly consisted of subsidy or honorariums paid by the government under various welfare schemes such as Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), Old Age Pension, LPG gas subsidy, Kisan Samman Yojna, payment of wages under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act among others as part of the lockdown relief.

The postal offices intensified the home cash delivery of cash, letters, money orders and parcels after the state went under lockdown to fight Covid-19. The postal department has delivered ₹130 crore in cash among 7 lakh houses during the lockdown period.

Impressed by the fast and efficient delivery in the time of crisis, Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Modi, who also holds the charge of finance ministry, had urged the postal department officials to expand their network so that the financial assistance offered by the government reaches the target at the earliest.

Kumar said that over 16,000 delivery boys attached with around 9,100 post offices and India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) had been engaged across the state to ensure timely payment of cash.