Gangajal in the mail? India Post’s working on it

NEW DELHI: Soon, you may not have to travel to Haridwar or Rishikesh to get water from the Ganga.

India Post might just deliver 'gangajal' to your doorstep. Telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad recently announced this proposal and directed ministry officials to utilize e-commerce platforms to mail water from the Ganges to consumers who want it.

Also read :Distribution of "Ganga Jal" sourced from Rishikesh and Gangotri

This will be part of a new initiative to face the challenges posed by the digital revolution and the entry of international courier giants. The growing use of mobile phones and the internet has led India Post to discontinue the telegraph, its oldest communication service, in 2013.

Also read :Gangajal in the mail? India Post’s working on it

It's not just in India that government-controlled postal services are feeling the effects of competition and technological change. In the US, the United States Postal Service has been losing customers for almost a decade. In Switzerland, the postal service had begun testing parcel deliveries by unmanned drones. Faced with declining revenue, Britain's 500 year old 'Royal Mail' and Japan's 'Japan Post' have been privatized in recent years

The Indian government has planned an ambitious IT-driven project to modernize its postal network. To improve its services, it is training its postmen for e-commerce initiatives. India Post has also tied up with online stores like Amazon, Telebrand, Flipkart and Naaptol for goods deliveries. And by 2017, the government is planning to handover a smartphone to every postman. It has also launched an e-commerce service and a proposal is being considered to establish a Postal Bank.