Ministry of Communications (India)

Ministry of Communications is a union ministerial agency under the Government of India responsible for telecommunications and postal service. It was carved out of Ministry of Communications and Information Technology on 19 July 2016. It consists of two departments viz. Department of Telecommunications and the Department of Posts.

[of India]
Ministry overview
Preceding Ministry	Ministry of Communications and Information Technology
Jurisdiction	Republic of India
Headquarters	Sanchar Bhawan, New Delhi, India 22°37′20″N 77°12′50″E
Annual budget	₹81,957 crore (US$11 billion) (2020-21 est.) [1]
Ministers responsible	Ravi Shankar Prasad, Cabinet Minister Sanjay Shamrao Dhotre, Minister of State
Ministry executives	Aruna Sundar Rajan, IAS, Chairman of Telecom Commission and Telecom Secretary Pradipta Kumar Bisoi , IPoS, Posts Secretary
Child agencies	Department of Telecommunications Department of Posts
Website	dot.gov.in

Formation

Ministry of Communication and Information Technology was bifurcated into Ministry of Communications and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.[2]

Department of Telecommunications

Further information: Department of Telecommunications

Also known as the Door Sanchar Vibhag, this department concerns itself with policy, licensing and coordination matters relating to telegraphs, telephones, wireless, data, facsimile and telematic services and other like forms of communications. It also looks into the administration of laws with respect to any of the matters specified, namely:

• The Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 (13 of 1885)
• The Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1940 (17 of 1933)
• The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 (24 of 1997)

Public sector units

• Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited
• Indian Telephone Industries Limited
• Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited
• Telecommunications Consultants India Limited

R&D unit

• Centre for Development of Telematics

Other units

• Wireless Planning and Coordination Wing
• Telecom Engineering Center[3]
• Controller of Communication Accounts
• Telecom Enforcement Resource and Monitoring (TERM) cells, formerly known as Vigilance & Telecom Monitoring (VTM) cells

A need was felt in the year 2007 to distinctly address the issues of Communication Network Security at DOT (HQ) level, consequent to enhancement of FDI limit in Telecom sector from 49% to 74% and therefore a new wing, named Security was created in DOT (HQ).

Objectives

• e-Government: Providing e-infrastructure for delivery of e-services
• e-Industry: Promotion of electronics hardware manufacturing and IT-ITeS industry
• e-Innovation / R&D: Implementation of R&D Framework - Enabling creation of Innovation/ R&D Infrastructure in emerging areas of ICT&E/Establishment of mechanism for R&D translation
• e-Learning: Providing support for development of e-Skills and Knowledge network
• e-Security: Securing India’s cyber space
• e-Inclusion: Promoting the use of ICT for more inclusive growth
• Internet Governance: Enhancing India’s role in Global Platforms of Internet Governance.

Telephone Advisory Committees

• Telephone Advisory Committees[4][5][6][7][8]
• MTNL Website list of TAC members

Education

• National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology
• National Institute of Communication Finance
• National Agriculture Education Institute of Research & Resources India

Department of Posts

The Department of Posts (DoP) operates one of the oldest and most extensive mail services in the world. As of 31 March 2017, the Indian Postal Service has 154,965 post offices, of which 139,067 (89.74%) are in rural areas and 15,898 (10.26%) are in urban areas. It has 25,585 departmental PO s and 129,380 ED BPOs. At the time of independence, there were 23,344 post offices, which were primarily in urban area. Thus the network has registered a sevenfold growth since independence, with the focus of the expansion primarily in rural areas. On an average, a post office serves an area of 21.56 sq; km and a population of 7,753 people. This is the most widely distributed post office system in the world.[9] The large numbers are a result of a long tradition of many disparate postal systems which were unified in the Indian Union post-Independence. Owing to this far-flung reach and its presence in remote areas, the Indian postal service is also involved in other services such as small savings banking and financial services., with about 25,464 full-time and 139,040 part-time post offices. It offers a whole range of products under posts, remittance, savings, insurance and philately. While the Director General is the head of operations, the Secretary is an adviser to the Minister. Both responsibilities are undertaken by one officer.

The DG is assisted by the Postal Services Board with six members: The six members of the Board hold portfolios of Personnel, Operations, Technology, Postal Life Insurance, Banking, Planning respectively. Shri Ananta Narayan Nanda is the Secretary (Posts) also the Chairman of the Postal Services Board and Ms.Meera Handa is Director General (DG) Posts. Shri.Vineet Pandey(Additional Charge) Additional Director General(Coordination) (ADG), Ms. Arundhaty Ghosh, Member (Operations), Shri. Biswanath Tripathy, Member (Planning), Shri Pradipta Kumar Bisoi, Member (Personnel), Shri Udai Krishna, Member (Banking), Shri Salim Haqu, Member (Technology) and Shri. Vineet Pandey, Member (PLI) & Chairman, Investment Board. The national headquarters are at Delhi and functions from Dak Bhavan located at the junction of Parliament Street and Ashoka Road.

The total revenue earned including remuneration for Savings Bank & Savings Certificate work during the year 2016-17 was ₹11,511.00 crores and the amount received from other Ministries/ Departments as Agency charges (recoveries) was ₹730.90 crores and expenditure is ₹24,211.85 crores during 2016-2017 against the previous year expenditure of ₹19,654.67 crores.The increase was mainly due to payment of increased pay & allowances consequent upon implementation of 7th pay commission recommendations, leave encashment during LTC, cost of materials, oil, diesel, revision of service tax on govt. buildings etc.

Financial performance of postal department
Year	Gross receipts	Working expenses	Surplus /Deficit
Figures in crores
1980-81	278	346	−68
1990-91	841	1033	−192
2000-01	3298	4848	−1550
2001-02	3697	5109	−1412
2002-03	4010	5374	−1364
2003-04	4257	5632	−1375
2004-05	4432	5814	−1382
2005-06	5023	6233	−1210
2006-07	4999	6378	−1379
2007–08	5494.896	7006.34	−1511.444
2008-09	5862.326	9455.414	−3593.088
2009-10	6266.701	12908.005	−6641.30
2010-11	6962.332	13307.948	−6345.616
2011-12	7910.510	13705.400	−5794.890
Source: Indian Budget.[10]

Lack of proper investment in infrastructure and technology is the reason for such low revenue. The present top management has already started investing in latest technology to improve the infrastructure. Quality of service is being improved and new products are being offered to meet the competition.

The field services are managed by Postal Circles—generally conforming to each State—except for the North Eastern States, India has been divided into 22 postal circles, each circle headed by a Chief Postmaster General. Each Circle is further divided into Regions comprising field units, called Divisions, headed by a Postmaster General. Further divided into divisions headed by SSPOs & SPOs. further divisions are divided into Sub Divisions Headed by ASPs & IPS. Other functional units like Circle Stamp Depots, Postal Stores Depots and Mail Motor Service may exist in the Circles and Regions.

Besides the 23 circles, there is a special Circle called the Base Circle to cater to the postal services of the Armed Forces of India. Army Postal Services (APS) is a unique arrangement to take care of the postal requirement of soldiers posted across the country. Department of Posts personnel are commissioned into the army to take care of APS. The Base Circle is headed by an Additional Director General, Army Postal Service holding the rank of a Major general.

The DoP is governed by the Indian Post Office Acts, 1898. Other than the traditional postage service in order to keep up with the age many new services have been introduced by the department:

• e-Post - Delivery of email through post man where email service is not available
• e-BillPost - Convenient way to pay bills under one roof
• Postal Life insurance
• International money transfers
• Mutual funds
• Banking

Ministers

• Minister of State

N	Name	Portrait	Term of office		Political party (Alliance)		Prime Minister
1	Rafi Ahmed Kidwai ( MoS, Independent Charge)		15 August 1947	2 August 1951	Indian National Congress		Jawaharlal Nehru
2	Amrit Kaur ( MoS, Independent Charge)		2 August 1951	13 May 1952
3	Jagjivan Ram ( MoS, Independent Charge)		13 May 1952	7 December 1956
4	Raj Bahadur ( MoS, Independent Charge)		7 December 1956	17 April 1957
5	Lal Bahadur Shastri ( MoS, Independent Charge)		17 April 1957	28 March 1958
6	S. K. Patil ( MoS, Independent Charge)	–	29 March 1958	24 August 1959
7	Jawaharlal Nehru ( MoS, Independent Charge)		25 August 1959	2 September 1959
8	P. Subbarayan ( MoS, Independent Charge)		2 September 1959	9 April 1962
9	Jagjivan Ram ( MoS, Independent Charge)		10 April 1963	31 August 1963
10	Ashoke Kumar Sen ( MoS, Independent Charge)		1 September 1963	13 June 1964
11							Lal Bahadur Shastri
12	Satya Narayan Sinha ( MoS, Independent Charge)	–	13 June 1964	12 March 1967
13							Indira Gandhi
14	Ram Subhag Singh ( MoS, Independent Charge)		13 March 1967	14 February 1969
15	Satya Narayan Sinha ( MoS, Independent Charge)	–	14 February 1969	8 March 1971
16	Indira Gandhi ( MoS, Independent Charge)		9 March 1971	17 March 1971
17	Sher Singh ( MoS, Independent Charge)	–	18 March 1971	2 May 1971
18	Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna ( MoS, Independent Charge)		2 May 1971	8 November 1973
19	Raj Bahadur ( MoS, Independent Charge)		8 November 1973	11 January 1974
20	Kasu Brahmananda Reddy ( MoS, Independent Charge)		11 January 1974	10 October 1974
22	Shankar Dayal Sharma ( MoS, Independent Charge)		10 October 1974	24 March 1977
23	Morarji Desai ( MoS, Independent Charge)		24 March 1977	26 March 1977	Janata Party		Morarji Desai
24	Parkash Singh Badal ( MoS, Independent Charge)		26 March 1977	27 March 1977	Shiromani Akali Dal
25	George Fernandes ( MoS, Independent Charge)		28 March 1977	6 July 1977	Janata Party
26	Brij Lal Varma ( MoS, Independent Charge)	–	6 July 1977	28 July 1979
27	Charan Singh		28 July 1979	30 July 1979	Janata Party (Secular)		Charan Singh
28	Zulfiquarullah (MoS, Independent Charge)	–	30 July 1979	27 November 1979
29	Charan Singh ( MoS, Independent Charge)		27 November 1979	7 December 1979
30	Shyam Nandan Mishra ( MoS, Independent Charge)	–	7 December 1979	14 January 1980
31	Indira Gandhi ( MoS, Independent Charge)		15 January 1980	16 January 1980	Indian National Congress		Indira Gandhi
32	Bhishma Narain Singh ( MoS, Independent Charge)	–	16 January 1980	3 March 1980
33	C. M. Stephen ( MoS, Independent Charge)	–	3 March 1980	2 September 1982
34	Anant Prasad Sharma ( MoS, Independent Charge)	–	2 September 1982	14 February 1983
35	Indira Gandhi ( MoS, Independent Charge)		14 February 1983	31 October 1984
36	Rajiv Gandhi ( MoS, Independent Charge)		31 October 1984	4 November 1984			Rajiv Gandhi
37	V. N. Gadgil ( MoS, Independent Charge)	–	4 November 1984	31 December 1984
38	Ram Niwas Mirdha(MoS, Independent Charge)		31 December 1984	22 October 1986
39	Arjun Singh ( MoS, Independent Charge)		22 October 1986	14 February 1988
40	Vasant Sathe ( MoS, Independent Charge)	–	14 February 1988	25 June 1988
41	Bir Bahadur Singh ( MoS, Independent Charge)	–	25 June 1988	30 June 1989
42	Giridhar Gamang (MoS, Independent Charge)		4 July 1989	2 December 1989
43	V. P. Singh ( MoS, Independent Charge)		2 December 1989	6 December 1989	Janata Dal		V. P. Singh
44	K.P. Unnikrishnan ( MoS, Independent Charge)	–	6 December 1989	23 April 1990	Congress (Secular)
45	Janeshwar Mishra ( MoS, Independent Charge)	–	30 April 1990	5 November 1990	Janata Dal
46	V. P. Singh ( MoS, Independent Charge)		6 November 1990	10 November 1990
47	Chandra Shekhar ( MoS, Independent Charge)		10 November 1990	21 November 1990	Samajwadi Janata Party		Chandra Shekhar
48	Sanjay Singh(MoS, Independent Charge)	–	22 November 1990	21 June 1991
49	Rajesh Pilot(MoS, Independent Charge)		21 June 1991	17 January 1993	Indian National Congress		P. V. Narasimha Rao
50	Sukh Ram(MoS, Independent Charge)	–	17 January 1993	16 May 1996
51	Atal Bihari Vajpayee ( MoS, Independent Charge)		16 May 1996	1 June 1996	Bharatiya Janata Party		Atal Bihari Vajpayee
52	Beni Prasad Verma(As MoS, Independent Charge till 10 July 1996)	–	1 June 1996	19 March 1998	Samajwadi Party		H. D. Dewe GowdaI. K. Gujral
53	Atal Bihari Vajpayee ( MoS, Independent Charge)		19 March 1998	21 March 1998	Bharatiya Janata Party		Atal Bihari Vajpayee
54	Buta Singh ( MoS, Independent Charge)		21 March 1998	19 April 1998
55	Atal Bihari Vajpayee ( MoS, Independent Charge)		19 April 1998	20 April 1998
56	Sushma Swaraj ( MoS, Independent Charge)		20 April 1998	11 October 1998
57	Atal Bihari Vajpayee ( MoS, Independent Charge)		11 October 1998	6 December 1998
58	Jagmohan ( MoS, Independent Charge)	–	6 December 1998	8 June 1999
59	Atal Bihari Vajpayee ( MoS, Independent Charge)		8 June 1999	13 October 1999
60	Ram Vilas Paswan ( MoS, Independent Charge)		13 October 1999	1 September 2001	Janata Dal (United)
61	Pramod Mahajan ( MoS, Independent Charge)	–	2 September 2001	28 January 2003	Bharatiya Janata Party
62	Arun Shourie ( MoS, Independent Charge)		29 January 2003	22 May 2004
63	Dayanidhi Maran ( MoS, Independent Charge)		23 May 2004	15 May 2007	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam		Manmohan Singh
64	A. Raja ( MoS, Independent Charge)	–	16 May 2007	14 November 2010
65	Manmohan Singh ( MoS, Independent Charge)		15 November 2010	19 January 2011	Indian National Congress
66	Kapil Sibal ( MoS, Independent Charge)		19 January 2011	26 May 2014
67	Ravi Shankar Prasad ( MoS, Independent Charge)		26 May 2014	5 July 2016	Bharatiya Janata Party		Narendra Modi
68	Manoj Sinha ( MoS, Independent Charge)	–	5 July 2016	24 May 2019
69	Sanjay Shamrao Dhotre ( MoS, Independent Charge)		24 May 2019

Former Ministers

• Manoj Sinha (5 July 2016 – 24 May 2019) ( MoS, Independent Charge)

References

1. "Union Budget 2020-21 Analysis" (PDF). prsindia.org. 2020.
2. "Centre Bifurcates Communication Ministry; New Ministry For Information Technology", NDTV, 21 July 2016
3. "Homepage". www.tec.gov.in.
4. "Telephone Advisory Committees (TACs)". dot.gov.in. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
5. "Raghuram Rajan went ahead with TAC view on interest rate". moneycontrol.com. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
6. "BSNL holds second TAC meeting". tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
7. "BSNL to provide 3G connectivity to Lasalgaon, Satana". Times of India. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
8. "Circular" (PDF). dot.gov.in.
9. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
10. "FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF POSTS". Department of Posts, Ministry of Communications. Government of India. pp. tab215.pdf. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2009.