New Delhi, Dec 04: Rajya Sabha on Monday passed the Post Office Bill, 2023, with Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw assuring members that rules would be framed in a fair and transparent manner after MPs claimed that the provision for interception of items would infringe on the fundamental right to privacy and could be misused.The Post Office Bill, 2023, seeks to repeal the 125-year-old Indian Post Office Act and consolidate and amend the law relating to post offices in the country.
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”.
Replying to a discussion on the Bill in the Upper House, Communications Minister Vaishnaw stressed the provision for interception is needed for national security reasons.
“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 a provision is kept for national security,” he said.
“As and when we frame the rules, the rules will be laid before Parliament and the procedure for interception will be introduced through the rules and it will be fair and transparent. There is absolutely nothing to worry about,” he assured the MPs.
Without naming anyone, the minister said those who believe their phones are being intercepted can get their phones checked by CERT-IN by the best technical experts.
He also dismissed claims about any move to privatise post offices.
“Very clearly there is absolutely no question of privatisation of the post offices. We have very categorically said, and I reiterate with full responsibility on the floor of the House.
“There is no provision regarding privatisation of post offices in the Bill and no desire of the government to do so,” he said.
The minister said the proposed legislation entails provisions towards the expansion of India’s Postal services network.
Several opposition parties like AAP, NCP, AIADMK, TDP and the Left raised concerns over the bill during the debate and alleged it was against federal principles.
“This is an act of surveillance on citizens, fails to specify procedures and the grounds are very vague. Moreover, there are no consequences for the unauthorised opening of postal articles by a postal officer.
“This is a violation of articles 19 and 21 of the Indian Constitution,” AAP’s Raghav Chadha said.
The Bill was introduced in Rajya Sabha during the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
According to the statement of objects and reasons of the bill, the enactment of a new law in place of the Indian Post Office Act, 1898 is with a view to govern the functioning of the post offices in the country and provide for a simple legislative framework to facilitate the evolution of the post offices into a network for delivery of citizen-centric services.
The bill seeks to empower the director general of postal services to frame regulations with respect to activities necessary to provide those services and fix the charges for such services.
In his reply, the minister said that post offices are practically functioning like banking services and there are 26 crore accounts with Rs 17 lakh crore deposited in post office savings services.
Moreover, 3 crore accounts have been opened under the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana with Rs 1.41 lakh crore deposited in them, informed the minister.
He said 3.5 crore people are beneficiaries of the direct benefits transfer scheme courtesy of the post office network.
Earlier, moving the Bill for consideration and passing, Vaishnaw asserted that the proposed legislation is a reflection of how post offices and postal institutions were revived under the NDA rule.
“From 2004 to 2014, 660 post offices were closed but from 2014 to 2023, around 5,000 post offices were opened and about 5,746 new ones are in the process of being opened,” Vaishnaw said.
Further, 1.6 lakh post offices have been connected with core banking and digital banking facilities, he said, adding that in accordance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision, 434 post offices have processed more than 1.25 crore passport applications and 13,500 “post office Aadhaar Seva Kendra” have been opened.
