The Department of Posts will join Global network of banks and financial institution named Eurogiro in October. The basic collaboration was to enable direct money remittances through post offices, said A. Raja, Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology.

Mr. Raja disclosed to the Hindu at a function held at the Automatic Mail Processing Centre in Meenambakkam to mark the flagging off of three dedicated India Post freighter aircraft. He announced that the preliminary projects were completed and after the completion of software testing, the project would be inaugurated next month in Chennai.

Once put in place, it would enable people to send money to their relatives and friends all over the world through electronic transfer in just one hour. Mr. Raja said that the department was serving people through 1.5 lakh post offices in six lakh villages across the country.

The Minister was planning to computerise all the post offices and compromise IT- enabled panel of experts to finish this project after the submission of the project in a couple of months. This project was even sanctioned by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The estimated budget of Rs 65 crore for modernization of Automatic Mail processing centers in New Delhi and Kolkata would be completed in one year, he added.

The government has invested nearly Rs 115 crore in its India Post Freighter Project. The project was launched about three years ago which will guarantee faster delivery of mail to different country from the northeastern states, Mr. Raja recalled.

Sachin Pilot, Union Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology, said freighter aircraft were introduced to cover the northeastern States to ensure swift delivery of mail, including speed post, logistic post, perishable goods like flowers and fruits, between Kolkata and Agartala. He recalled that night air mail service was introduced in 1949 by Communications Minister Rafi Ahmed Kidwai.

Buoyed by its success, the Ministry had now chartered two more aircraft from Air India to extend the link between New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Bangalore, with Nagpur as the hub.

Radhika Doraiswamy, Secretary, Department of Posts, said each of the Boeing 737-200 aircraft could transport about 14 tonnes of mail.

The major Information-technology consultant, Accenture would earmark Rs 2000 crore for modernization and computerization of post offices, she added.