Postal deficit to go up by 41% in 2009-10

This is because the postal department is estimated to earn only Rs 6,135.74 crore in 2009-10 while its total working expenses for the period are pegged at Rs 11, 531 crore. Therefore, the balance of Rs 5,395 crore has been provided as the budgetary support.

Postal deficit in the revised estimates 2008-09 stood at Rs 3,825 crore while the Budget estimates for 2008-09 had made allocations of only Rs 958 crore as postal deficit. Postal deficit is the gross non-plan expenditure less postal earnings.

Overall, the Department of Posts is likely to incur an expenditure of Rs 11,724.50 crore in 2009-10, around 18 per cent higher than 2008-09.

The postal earnings are expected to go up only by around 3 per cent over 2008-09 to Rs 6,135.74 crore or an addition of Rs 196.52 crore.

This suggests that government is not planning for any major increase in the postal charges during the year.

The growing postal deficit is also on account of nearly 20 per cent jump in the wage bill of the department of posts to Rs 8,075 crore for 2009-10 over Rs 6,761 crore in the revised estimates for 2008-09.

The postal department is estimated to employ around 4.84 lakh employees in 2010, a marginal reduction from 4.89 lakh employees in 2009.

Also, as a result of the Sixth Pay Commission, there is 18 per cent increased outlay for the pensions in 2009-10 to Rs 2,710 crore compared with Rs 2,300 crore in the revised estimates for 2008-09.

The outlay for 2009-10 is pegged at Rs ,6021 crore of which Rs 5,401 crore will be for the non-plan outlay and Rs 620 crore as plan outlay.

This is around 42 per cent higher than the revised estimates for 2008-09 that stood at Rs 4,228.78 crore (Rs 3,829 crore of non-plan outlay and Rs 400 crore of plan outlay).

The government has also increased the allocation for postal network, including expansion and maintenance, by nearly 23 per cent to Rs 6,323.91 crore for 2009-10 against Rs 5,171 crore for 2008-09.

There are 155,035 post offices in the country, with around 90 per cent in the rural areas (139,173) while the remaining in the urban areas.

According to the Budget papers, the expenditure budget for 2009-10 for the postal department provides for normal growth and expansion of the postal services.