UPSC chairman Arvind Saxena, former RAW chief Vikram Sood and noted South Asia expert Tilak Devasher all once served in the Indian Postal Service.
New Delhi: The recent appointment of Arvind Saxena as the chairman of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has brought the focus back on a relatively little-known branch of the country’s bureaucracy — the Indian Postal Service (IPoS).
Saxena, who took charge Thursday, is the first former IPoS officer to be appointed as the UPSC chairman. Another officer from the cadre, IMG Khan, is a member of the UPSC.
While it is a relatively low-profile department, several IPoS officers occupy important positions in the central government ministries.
The service has also produced bureaucrats such as former R&AW chief Vikram Sood, and former special secretary, cabinet secretariat, Tilak Devasher, apart from Saxena.
The three of them, however, have not served in the IPoS for too long.
Sood, who authored The Unending Game: A Former R&AW Chief’s Insights into Espionage, was permanently absorbed into the R&AW cadre and served there for 31 years.
Devashar, a South Asia expert and author of Pakistan: At the Helm, had also served a long tenure in cabinet secretariat before retiring in October 2014. Formerly, an officer from the IPoS, he had resigned from the service before working in cabinet secretariat.
Saxena too served in R&AW for twenty-seven years, since he joined the agency in 1988.
An old service
The IPoS is one of the oldest Group ‘A’ Central Civil Services, where officers are selected through the prestigious civil services examination conducted by the UPSC.
IPoS officers are tasked with looking after the overall administration of the postal division where they are posted. This includes management of postal services and operations, looking after post offices and mail offices, expansion of the postal network, public grievance redressal and personnel management.
Once considered a crucial service, when post offices played a significant role in the country’s affairs, the IPoS has fallen down the pecking order in Indian bureaucracy.
But while its role may have been diminished, the service has been reinventing itself, beating back predictions that it would become redundant, with the death of traditional mail.
“Till the 1970s, it was considered a crucial service and the backbone of India’s communication network with its network spread in every nook and corner of the country,” a senior IPoS officer told ThePrint. “The service was influential for mobilising small savings of the government and also government funds to states for developmental work.”
The officer added that with the advent of unregulated courier services, banks and the internet in the late 80s and early 90s, the service went through a ‘dark’ period.
“Many of these challenges still remain because of the delay in decision making and implementation of suggestions recommended by various internal committees in tackling these challenges,” the official said.
The officer added that while it is still considered one of the most trusted networks in the country, there continues to be a deficit in the expenditure, incurred especially in human resources and other technologies, and the revenue earned by the department.
Also read: New UPSC chief Arvind Saxena among the few non-IAS officers heading recruiting body
How Speed Post may have saved the service
ThePrint spoke to many other officials across services about the IPoS, with most of them validating the importance of the service today, especially after the various revamping measures taken by the government.
A senior official from another service said that when the courier services, which were faster and efficient, began gaining popularity, many thought the IPoS would die out.
“But then they introduced the Speed Post (in 1986), which competed with these companies because the postal service network was more spread out and was considered more reliable,” the official said, adding that the IPoS was also one of the first to start the process of outsourcing and engaging business development associates.
In the 2000s, the IPoS came up with strategic plan report to revamp the postal service.
Acting on the report, the department has renovated post offices into multiproduct centres, modernised the existing postal network, begun operating as payments bank, and also ensured the makeover of India Post, the government-operated postal system.
The report, the officer from another service said, also pointed out that the value and potential, of India Post’s extensive network, was being underestimated and noted that it provided extraordinary opportunities for last-mile delivery, which the service worked on, the official said.
He, however, added that many challenges remain because of the slow death of traditional mail.
Also read: The IAS has thinned at the top of the bureaucracy under the Modi government
Department where officers flourish
These days, the IPoS is among the least preferred options for candidates appearing for the civil services exams and has few takers. Even then, there is a degree of exclusivity — just a handful of candidates, rarely over 12 or 13, are chosen for the department.
This is because of the way the service, which is part of the department of posts under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, is structured.
There are 23 postal circles in the country, each circle headed by a chief postmaster general. The circles are further divided into regions, headed by a postmaster general and comprise field units called divisions. These are further divided into subdivisions. There is also another base circle for postal services to the Armed Forces of India.
“The service is also unique in the sense that the department of post is always headed by someone from the IPoS and not by any other service. Hence the officers also flourish,” the official said, adding that the transformation of the “neglected” service is an example of many other services.
My response is to Mr Pankaj Jha, IPoS officers do not try to prove in other departments that they are not inferior to IAS, they just do their natural work. And even if they do, does not this ultimately helps the system to serve people better. Is not this a positive competition? Should not this competition to prove oneself good for the country and the people we serve?
The IAS officers are not a breed apart from the rest of their counterparts. They are just separated by few marks which are borne sometimes out of sheer luck . And they have the same faults and prejudices as the rest of them. As a civil servant myself , I have seen IAS officers behave like feudal Lords to attendants as if they own them . And to point out ( as a person pointed out here ) IPoS officers dint suffer from inferiority complex , it’s that they have been subject to nearly 70 years of domination by one service the IAS . Even IPS officers have been often been at the receiving end.
It’s not the fault of the services or the people in the IAS but they way the system has concentrated power in the hands of one service . That’s why the ICS was often called the heaven borne services .
It would be better if we begin to understand that the talent is not just in the IAS but in all services equally ( IAS/ IFS/ IRS / IDAS / IPTS etc …
Whichever city or town in India I have lived in,I found the postal service employees uniformly helpful and efficient.
However,of late,letters posted to my friend in Bangalore never reach her
Excellent story Amrita. Read your stories often.
As dept of post does have IAS boss and very little trouble from accounting service thats the main reason they are flourishing
Good the monopoly has to be broken. The IAS and IPS lobby has amassed huge powers not for public good but for personal good over the years .It is because of the ninkampoo politicians we have in India. All wrong things done by politiciansfor personal gains are through this lobby.
Sorry to disagree with the author, the officers of IPoS suffer from tremendous inferiority complex and most of the time keep on searching for deputation.
In the deputation department also most of the time is spent in proving that they are not inferior to other services.
After 20 years service IPS & other allied service officers should be nominated to IAS instead of promoting from state civil services…
Indian Postal Service Officers are one of the most talented lots,its a great owner to work in this department .people respect this department. All employees be given better responsibilities, this step by the government really good .I salute every postal employee
A Dulat was a coward. He himself admits his helplessness in face of onslaught by ISI & lazy congress regimes.
Good development. Members of other services often feel that members of the IAS, based on scoring a few more marks in the exam, essay a much higher trajectory all through their careers. In recent years, more posts of Joint Secretary and above in Delhi are being offered to non IAS officers. Instead of inducting outsiders for a few years at JS level – which appears to have been a still born initiative – it makes more sense to spot talent in the other services and bring them into the charmed circle. 2. When it comes to RAW chiefs, A S Dulat comes across as a more impressive figure than Vikram Sood. I would sometimes see him pottering around the Delhi Gym, when he was President, a very genial presence.
Getting ppl at JS level is not a bad idea. Common man gets to know the challenges in governance first hand.
Indian Postal Service Officers are one of the most talented lots, wherever thay have served, they are counted amongst the most committed and efficient. They should be given better responsibilities, this is a welcome step by the government.