The Department of Post provides services to the public through a large nation wide network of Post Offices. Besides providing purely postal services, Post Offices perform agency functions like Savings Bank, Payment of Pension, Sale of Cash Certificates etc. on behalf of other Ministries/Departments of the Government of India and other organizations.

The Department earned a total revenue of Rs. 42,569.29 Million, of which Rs. 23,687.27 Million came from Postal Services while the amount received from other Ministries/Departments as Agency charges was Rs. 1,039.09 Million (see table 13). The latter amount has been reflected under “recoveries”. Remuneration from Savings Bank and Savings Certificates was Rs. 17,625 Million. Gross working expenditure for the year 2003-2004 was Rs. 57,360.61 Million against the previous year’s expenditure of Rs. 54,761.5 Million (i.e. an increase of about 4.75%). This increase in expenditure was mainly due to enhanced payment of Dearness Allowance/Dearness Relief and related Pensionary charges. In keeping with the trend of the last five years, this year also the Department was able to keep the expenditure within the ceiling fixed by the Ministry of Finance through strict budgetary control and close monitoring of expenditure. Therefore, despite increase in salaries and Pensionary charges, the deficit of the Department was pegged at Rs. 13,752.23 Million.

TABLE- 1 REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE (FOR THE YEAR 2003-2004) (Rs. in Million)
Particulars	Actuals 2002-03	Actuals 2003-04	%age Inc(+)/Dec(-) over previous year.
Revenue
Sale of Stamps	9,810.4	8,946.62	(-)8.80%
Postage Realised in Cash	10,173.4	11,559.31	13.62%
Commission on Money Orders and Indian Postal Orders etc.	3,011.0	3,181.34	5.66%
Remuneration for Saving Bank/Saving Certificates Work	15,770. 0	17,625.00	11.76%
*Other Receipts	1,331.7	1,257.02	(-)5.61%
Total	40,096.5	42,569.29	6.17%
Expenditure
General Administration	3,205.0	3,306.95	3.18%
Operation	36,205.3	37,838.19	4.51%
Agency Services	1,948.3	1,967.95	1.01%
**Others	13,402.9	14,247.52	6.30%
Total Gross Expenditure	54,761.5	57,360.61	4.75%
Less Recoveries	1,021.0	1,039.09	1.77%
Net Expenditure	53,740.5	56,321.52	4.80%
Deficit (Net Expenditure-Revenue)	13,644.0	13,752.23	0.79%

* This includes service charges retained by the Department of Posts from sale of Passport Application Form, Passport Fee Stamps, Central Recruitment Fee Stamps, receipts from other Postal Administrations etc.

** This includes Wages, Office Expenses, Overtime Allowance, Rent and Taxes, Professional Services, Maintenance, Amenities to Staff, Pension charges, Supplies, Material, Machinery and Equipment and Other Administrative Expenses etc.

TABLE-2 RECOVERY OF WORKING EXPENSES ON ACCOUNT OF AGENCY SERVICES IN 2002-03 AND 2003-04 (Rs. in Million)
Sl. No	Head of Account	2002-03 Actuals	2003-04 Actuals
1.	Military Pension	0.00	0.00
2.	Payment of Coal Miners and EPF/Family Pension & other Misc. Services	37.50	42.10
3.	Payment of Railway Pension	187.80	111.26
4.	Postal Life Insurance	579.10	709.33
5.	Custom Duty Realization	34.80	72.79
6.	Mahila Samridhi Yojna	0.00	0.00
7.	Commission on A/c. of International Money Transfer – Western Union Scheme	18.60	38.75
8.	Telegraph share of Combined Offices	139.00	36.06
9.	*Others	24.20	28.80
	Total	1021.00	1039.09

* This includes Commission on sale of Non-Postal stamps of Delhi Administration, Recoveries from Army Postal Service Accounts and other Government Departments.

The earnings of the Department are in the form of ‘Recoveries’ and ‘Revenue’ and the details of the latter are listed in Table 13. Earnings from ‘Revenue’ accrue from sale of postal articles, commission on Money Orders and Indian Postal Orders, receipts from other premium services, remuneration for Saving Bank and Saving Certificates work etc. This trend of gradual increase in postal deficit and the consequent dependency on budgetary support has been arrested by generating more revenue through different new services introduced by the Department, besides containing the expenditure within the ceiling fixed by the Ministry of Finance. Therefore, in the financial year 2003-04, the deficit of the Department was only Rs. 13,752.23 Million, i.e. 0.79% more than previous year’s deficit of Rs. 13,644 Million, despite an appreciable increase in Working Expenses, due to the appreciable increase registered in Revenue Receipt and Recoveries.

The funds made available by the Ministry of Finance for ‘Working Expenses’ and ‘Capital Outlay’ during the year, were appropriately utilized. Surplus funds were surrendered in time to the Ministry of Finance as a result of continuous and timely monitoring of fund utilization.

TABLE 3 FUNDS SURRENDERED AND SAVINGS DURING 2003-04 (Rs. in Million)
Nature of Expenditure	Budget Est.	Suppl. Grant/ Re-app.	Total	Actual Expd.	Excess(+)/ Saving(-)	Amount Surrendered/Re-app.	Savings
3201 Working Exp	55940.10	2127.10	58067.20	57360.61	-706.59	103.74	-602.85
2552 Prov. For the Development of North East Region	13.40	0.00	13.40	0.00	-13.40	13.40	0.00
Total working Exp.	55953.50	2127.10	58080.60	57360.61	-719.99	117.14	-602.85
5201 Capital Exp.	1215.21	78.80	1294.01	483.60	-810.41	680.50	-129.91
4552 Prov. for the Development of North East Region	76.40	0.00	76.40	0.00	-76.40	76.40	0.00
Total Capital Exp.	1291.61	78.80	1370.41	483.60	-886.81	756.90	-129.91
Total Working Exp. + Capital Exp.	57245.11	2205.90	59451.01	57844.21	-1606.80	874.04	-732.76

Capital Outlay

The expenditure on fixed assets in the year 2003-04 was Rs. 489.10 Million, of which 30.46% was on Land and Buildings, 39.31% on Mechanization and Modernisation of Postal Services, 25.37% on Railway Mail Vans and 4.86% on other items including Mail Motor Vehicles. The value of Gross Capital on fixed assets rose to
Rs. 11,561.50 Million at the end of the year. The net progressive fixed asset value upto the end of the year was Rs. 9,827.80 Million.