Dak Ghar Niryat Kendras post offices to boost small traders

Vineet Pandey, Secretary, Department of Posts, on Monday, said Dak Ghar Niryat Kendras—post offices designated to facilitate exports by MSMEs—are expected to help small traders and promote the country's exports. He talked about this at India Post's AMRITPEX-2023 event.

"Dak Niryat Kendras are expected to give a boost to small traders," he said. He added that the low-cost structure and simple working processes of post offices are suitable for small and medium businesses.

According to Vineet, the department is developing a comprehensive plan to make its network useful for One District One Product (ODOP) and small businesses in the northeastern states. ODOP is a government initiative to boost economic growth at the district level. 

The aim is to make each district proficient in manufacturing, branding, and marketing one kind of product. The initiative intends to achieve this by scaling manufacturing, supporting local businesses, finding potential foreign customers, and so on, and thus contributing to making India 'Atmanirbhar'.

MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) accounts for 45% of manufacturing output and more than 40% of the country's exports. During the period April-December 2022, India's merchandise exports increased by 9% to $332.76 billion.