The Rajya Sabha on Monday passed the Post Office Bill, 2023 after Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw assured the House that interception provisions in the Bill was meant for national security purposes only, keeping in view the current challenging times.

Replying to the debate on the Bill, the minister said the interception objectives were clearly laid out in the Bill. This provision, he said, was part of the law for ages and there was nothing new. When the Rules to the law are made, they will bring more transparency to the issue, he said.

Vaishnaw said there was no question of privatisation of post offices; the Bill provides no provision for this. What it proposes is just to expand the services and not keep the Post Office confined to mail.

The communications minister said there was no curtailment of recruitment in the post offices. Under the Narendra Modi government, 1.28 lakh new employees have joined the postal department, 5000 new post offices have been opened and another 5000 more will be opened. The sports quota for employees was maintained.

He said the post offices were already providing banking services and there were 26 crore accounts in post offices and Rs 17 lakh crore were deposited in them. Three crore Sukanya Smriddhi Yojana accounts have been opened.

Vaishnaw said it was during the UPA Government that some postal services were curtailed, including the stoppage of the UPC service.

Direct Benefit Transfer services are being provided to 3.5 crore beneficiaries and there is no money “lost” in the transition, he said. Passport facilities will be expanded through post offices and they will get a legal backing. Mr Vaishnaw said liability of the post office employees is also clearly laid out in case of negligence.

Commenting on the Congress members’ remarks that the postal services were started during the British times, the Communications Minister said the Congress had not given up its colonial mindset. Dak services were prevalent ages ago from Patliputra to Persia. Whether it is education or any other sector, the Congress talks of the British rule, he said.

“The Congress hyprocisy is well known, people have seen development work under the Modi rule. The Congress will not give up its colonial mindset and will get irrelevant,” the Minister said.

Replying to allegations of assault on federalism, the Minister said postal services are clearly mentioned in the Union List in the Constitution. He said members who claimed to be protectors of the Constitution had been rejected by the people.

Participating in the debate Sukhendu Sekhar Roy (Trinamul Congress) expressed concern over the clauses providing for interception of mail and sought to know the definition of “emergency” mentioned in the Bill.

Members demanded the Consumer Protection act be extended to the postal services and the postal staff should provide the dak at doorstep in multistoreyed buildings, like courier services.