MINUTES OF THE UNION MEETING HELD ON 15TH JULY- 2010 AT NEW DELHI

The meeting was chaired by Ms. Radhika Doraiswamy, Secretary, Department of Posts and by the following officers of the management side:
Ms. Manjula Prasher, Member (O)
Ms. Kalpana Tiwari,CGM (MB)
Ms. S Trivedi, CGM (BD)
Ms. Aruna Jain,DDG(Training)
Mr. Alok Sharma, GM (Speed Post)
Mr. T.S Sinha, AGM (Speed Post
Mr. Subhash Chander, Director (SR)
Mr. Rishikesh, Director (MM)
Mr. Aman Sharma, ADG (MO)
The Staff side was represented by the following office bearers:
Mr. D. Theagarajan, Secretary General, FNPO
Mr. R.N. Parashar, Asstt. Secretary General, NFPE
Mr. K.V. Sridharan, General Secretary, AIPE Union Class. III
Mr. D. Kishan Rao, General Secretary, NUPE Group 'C'.
Mr.Giri Raj Singh, General Secretary, AI RMS&MMS EU Group 'C'.
Mr. T.N. Rahate, General Secretary, NUPE Postmen & Gr 'D'
Mr. P Suresh, General Secretary, AIRMS & MMS Employees Union, Mailguard and Multi  Skilled Employees
Mr. A. H. Siddique, General Secretary, NU RMS & MMS Employees, Mail Guards and Multi-skilled Employees.
The following officials were present from Mckinsey.
Mr. Thomas Netzer
Mr. Sascha A Hower
Ms Manjula Prasher, Member (O) in her welcome address highlighted that the aim of the meeting was to develop a common understanding on the Mail Network Optimization Project so that the management and staff could move together. Member (O) pointed that the Project was currently focusing on Speed Post network and the standardization of process and development of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) have resulted in a reduction in transit time across 6 metros. Member (O) expressed hope that the management and staff side shall work together towards achieving a common goal of making India Post a preferred choice of customers.
Ms Radhika Doraiswamy, Secretary, Department of Posts, in her address explaining that all the Plan projects currently being undertaken by the Department were aimed at transforming the Department and Mail Network Optimization Project was one such initiative. Secretary pointed out that in the last decade a lot of things had been tried by the Department without much success. Hence, the present efforts were being undertaken with the help of experts who have a lot of international experience of working in the Postal sector. The aim of the current project was to introduce the best global technology and practices in our mail offices. As compared to the earlier consultancy exercise done by the Department the mandate of Mckinsey was to not only study our system and suggest ways of improving it but also to do the hand holding in implementing the recommendations accepted by the Department. The Secretary added that there was no question of moving ahead without taking the staff along and all the proposal changes shall be made by taking the staff into confidence.
Secretary's address was followed by a detailed presentation on the background, strategy, work plan, process redesign and the expected outcome of the Mail Network Optimization Project by Mr. Rishikesh, Director (Mails Management).
The presentation was followed by discussion with the staff side. The following points were discussed:
1. Mr. D. Theagarajan, Secretary General, FNPO, pointed out that the staff were happy that the Department was focusing on its core business of mails and he was also aware about the significant improvements in the transit time and quality of service across metros that has been achieved as a result of the implementation of the Mail Network Optimization Project. It was also pointed that the focus on the metros shall be the Department increase its market share vis a vis couriers but the Department should not loose on the rural areas even though they may not be important from the business point of view and no mail office in rural areas should be closed.. Mr. Theagarajan expressed that all the concept being recommended by Mckinsey were already there in the Postal manuals and there was nothing new in them. However, before implementing the recommendations given by Mckinsey there should be a thorough debate within the Department about their pros and cons. The cost component and the overall benefit should be assessed before giving a go-ahead to Mckinsey to implement the recommendations. Mr. Theagarajan also wanted to know the fate of the KPMG report and if any action was taken on that report.
In response to the comments made by Mr. Theagarajan, Secretary (P) replied that the Department remains a socially committed organization and there was no pressure on the Department from the Finance Ministry to earn profit. However, there was a need to make products such as Speed Post profitable and the Department was committed to improve the quality of its services and this Project was a step in this direction. There was no agenda to cause serious dislocation of offices or staff and the Union shall be taken into confidence before moving ahead. Secretary pointed out that the aim of bringing in Mckinsey was to utilize their expertise and global experience to introduce the state- of- the -art technology and global best –practices in the mail offices and give the best facilities and tools to the staff. As regards the KPMG consultancy report was concerned, Secretary mentioned that the recommendations given by KPMG were discussed by the Department internally and some of the recommendations were implemented.
2. Mr. KV Sridharan, General Secretary ,AIPE Union Class III wanted to know whether the Plan project to create 230 MBCs would entail closure or merger of the existing mail offices.
The Secretary responded that no categorical reply can be given at this nascent stage of the project implementation.
3. Mr. Giri Raj Singh General Secretary AIRMS & MMS EU Group `C` lamented the abolition of Sorting Mail Sections and concluded that the fall in mail volumes coincide with this decision of the Department and that the Department should re-introduce Sorting Mail sections.
In response the Secretary emphasized that as the Railways are regularly revising the tariff upwards and reducing the capacity in the trains significantly, hence it was not possible to restart the Sorting Sections and the Department was exploring alternative modes for mail transmission in order to improve quality and reduce cost.
The meeting ended with a vote –of – thanks by the CGM (MB)
D.G. Posts No. 2/2/2010-SR dated 30th July, 2010.