India to Push Money Transfers From GCC to Rural Areas with UPU

Doha, October 02 (QNA) - Projects facilitatating the flow of remittances of Indian labor in GCC countries, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and UAE to rural areas in India will be launched in collaboration with the Universal Postal Union, a senior official at India's Ministry of Communications and IT told Qatar News Agency (QNA) Tuesday. Besides the United States and the United Kingdom, the Gulf is one of the major areas where money is being remitted to India, S.C Barmma, deputy director general of international relations and global business at the Post Department of India's Ministry of Communication said today during a press briefing on how posts can exploit untapped potentials for financial inclusion, on the sidelines of the 25th Universal Postal Congress, now in progress in Doha. Bramma said that the postal sector is the second key catalyst, after banking sector, to the success of financial inclusion in India. "Post Office carries on average 100 million money orders every year, mostly small amount money orders from migrant workers to their family every year," Bramma said. He said there are currently 260 million saving accounts in India with a deposit over $100 billion. Speaking of the efforts done in terms of financial inclusion in India, he said that the national post policy is focusing at preset on various issues, mainly money fraud and corruption. "There are a lot of programs in progress as well in the same field, including a socially responsible money transfer service for students and migrant workers", to confront money laundering. In addition, he said, there is a program providing wages payment to rural households, the Mahatma Ghandi National Rural Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) through postal offices. Talking of enhancing postal services in rural areas, he said there is a five-year timeplan intended to strength the rural network in India and eliminate the digital divide. UPU economist Jose Anson added that the congress has come out with four main resolutions, notably one including the development of financial services remittances in rural area, in addition to carrying out research work on the best business models, how they can benefit with more exchange with central banks. Anson emphasized the importance of the financial inclusion, specifically in the current time of financial crisis. "They play an important role in growth of the economy and savings. The main collector of savings is the postal network," he said. Talking of Arab countries implementing the financial inclusion system, Anson said that North Africa region, including Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt are the fastest developing in this system. "They are actually good benchmarks for other Arab regions that have not yet adopted the system," he said. There are around half million savings and postal accounts every year in these countries. (END)