As part of the government’s plan to upgrade 8,500 post offices into e-centres during its tenure, 100 more post offices will start functioning as e-
centres by July. About 2,000 post offices have already been computerised, a reliable source at the ministry of Post and Telecommunications told The Independent on
Sunday.
The government has sanctioned Tk. 1.40 crore to turn 100 post offices into e-centres, the source said. He added that tenders have already been floated for procurement
of machinery and other equipment.
The Directorate of Bangladesh Post Office (DBPO) is considering to use its existing manpower of about 18,000 departmental and 22,000 extra-departmental staff to run
these e-centres, he said. However, another source added that the government might not be able to turn the huge number of post offices into e-centres within the
remaining period.
The e-centres would provide Internet, fax, photo-copy and electronic money transfer system (EMTS) facilities. The department has already introduced the EMTS service,
which is getting very good response from the people, said a source.
There are 10,000 post offices in the country, most of which have very little work to do. About 100 post offices have merged with their adjoining post offices to
accelerate work. The EMTS service has already been introduced in about 2,000 post offices across the country, said Rafiqul Alam, additional director general of
Bangladesh Post Office.
The volume of private letter correspondence has reduced by almost 90 per cent, while ordinary money order and private parcel systems have also substantially fallen, he
added. The department faces increasing pressure of business parcels.
With the advent of satellite communication and modern technology, telegraph service has become irrelevant. For this, on February 7, 2006, the chairman of the
Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL) declared that telex exchanges would install phone or fax, said Rafiqul Matin, a senior official of BTCL.
Government officials have been asked to introduce Internet, e-mail and fax services, he added.
The country has 91 telex centres, most of which have become non-functional in the absence of public use. The closure of telegraph and telex offices can be attributed
to sharp fall in revenue earnings following technological advancement. The telex machines have turned into scrap, an official of DBPO said.
Telegraph service, albeit non-functional for all practical purposes, is still operational in a very limited way for sending weather reports from different parts of the
country to the meteorological department. Also, members of various security services, including the army, police and Ansar and some nationalized banks, send
telegraphic messages. At present, the government earns only a few lakhs of Taka from the communication service, compared to several crores in the past. An official
said letter boxes and post boxes are in limited use.
The Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Department was converted into a corporate body – Telegraph and Telephone Board – with the promulgation of the Telegraph and
Telephone Board Ordinance, 1975. From July 1, 2008, BTTB was made a public limited company – the Bangladesh Telecommunication Company Limited (BTCL) – through other
ordinances.
BTCL has a mandate to provide basic telecommunication services throughout the country. It is providing telephone services to about one million subscribers at upazila
and growth centre levels. Most of these subscribers can also use the dial-up Internet services.
-With The Independent input
