Page 241 - DECO502_INDIAN_ECONOMIC_POLICY_ENGLISH

Unit 19: Sectoral Performance II: Role of Infrastructure in Economic Development

supplying necessary motivation, the communication system helps to bring buyers and sellers together Notes
effectively and helps to accelerate the growth of the economy. Accordingly, the modern communication
system has become an integral part of the development process.
Postal System in India

Since 1950-51, the postal network has been expanded throughout the country, and in recent years,
with special emphasis on the rural, hilly and remote tribal areas. With more than 1.5 lakh post offices,
the postal network in India is the largest in the whole world. The long term objective of the Department
of Postal Services of the Government of India is to locate a post office within three Kms of every
village and to provide the facility of a letter box in every village with a population of over 500. At
present, it is estimated that there are approximately 1,10,000 Gram Panchayat villages which do not
have a post office. The Postal Department seeks to provide basic postal services on a contractual basis
by utilising the existing infrastructure of Panchayats in these areas. This scheme—known as the
Panchayat Sanchar Sewa Scheme,—has been recently introduced by the Government and it has the
twin advantage of (a) providing postal services to needy areas with less Government expenditure
and (b) generating employment opportunities in such areas.

Indian Telegraphs
Indian telegraphs is one of the oldest Government-owned public utility organisations in the world.
The number of telegraph offices has increased from 8,200 in 1951 to over 30,000 now. The phonogram
service for sending and receiving telegram by telephone, telex service to send and receive printed
message directly from one centre to another, the tremendous expansion of telephone facilities and
direct trunk dialling—all these facilities are available to the general public
Telecommunications
Telecommunication is a vital input for global competition and for India’s success in the international
markets. It is important not only because of its role in bringing the benefits of communication to
every corner of India but also in serving the new policy objectives of improving the global
competitiveness of the Indian economy and stimulating and attracting foreign direct investment.
There has been a phenomenal growth in the telecommunication sector after 1995. The
telecommunications network of the public sector (BSNL and MTNL) is one of the largest
telecommunication network in Asia with a capacity of 50 million lines and over 40 million working
connections comprising 35,510 telephone exchanges in the country (by end - December 2002). The
annual growth rate of providing new telephone connections has been increasing steadily from about
10 percent in 1988-89 to 30 per cent in 1999-2000 and 17 per cent during 2001-02. The number of new
telephone connections provided during 2003-04 alone was 22 million which was equal to the total
number of phones installed as of 1999.
There has been a shift in importance towards the private sector and towards wireless telephony with
fall ing tariff rates for cellur phones, there has also been a phenomenal increase in the number of
cellular subscribers. At the time of independence, there were only two phones per ten thousand of
population. By the year 2009, there were more than four phone connections per 10 persons. Today a
customer, who wishes to own a phone can get the same in minutes. Prior to advent of mobility
companies, it used to take 8 to 15 years to get a phones connection. By March 2009, there were nearly
43 crores telephone connections, out of which around 90 percent were mobile connections. Cellular
telephony has become the most preferred mode of communication among the Indian public, as
capital costs of mobile telephony are lower. Today an ordinary worker can an is affording a mobile
phone. Today a mobile in the hand of a Plumber, Carpenter, Electrician, Autorikshaw drive is a
common feature.
From the data provided in table 19, we can make a review of the growth of infrastructure investment
in the post-reform period.

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