SDG 1: No Poverty | SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth | SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals
Department of Posts (DoP) | Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD)
On January 7, 2026, the Department of Posts (DoP) and the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to leverage India Post’s vast network for rural transformation. The partnership aims to enhance financial inclusion, support the livelihoods of Self-Help Group (SHG) members under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), and provide robust logistics enablement for rural products.
Key strategic components of the MoU include:
Financial Literacy & Inclusion: Utilizing Dak Sevaks and Post Office branches to provide doorstep banking and insurance services to rural households, particularly targeting Lakhpati Didis.
Logistics & Market Access: Enabling SHGs to use the India Post logistics network for the efficient transport and delivery of rural products to urban markets and e-commerce hubs.
SHG Empowerment: Collaborating with India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) to provide tailored financial products, micro-credit facilities, and digital payment solutions to SHG members.
Last-Mile Service Delivery: Using the post office network as a “One-Stop Shop” for various government-to-citizen (G2C) services and social security pension disbursements.
What is ‘Logistics Enablement’ for SHGs? It is a specialized service framework where India Post provides a dedicated “end-to-end” supply chain solution for products made by rural Self-Help Groups. This includes pick-up from remote village clusters, professional packaging, real-time tracking, and last-mile delivery to customers across India. By reducing the high cost of fragmented rural logistics, this enablement allows SHG products (like handicrafts or organic food) to become price-competitive in national markets.
Policy Relevance
This MoU is a critical step toward the vision of Viksit Bharat @2047 by bridging the rural-urban digital and physical divide. It revitalizes the 1.5 lakh+ post office network—the world’s largest—as a modern engine for rural economic growth.
Strategic Impact for India:
Scaling ‘Lakhpati Didis’: By providing professional logistics and financial tools, the partnership directly supports the goal of raising the annual income of 3 crore SHG women to over ₹1 lakh.
Deepening Financial Inclusion: Leveraging the trust and reach of the “Postman” helps bring the “unbanked” into the formal economy, supporting the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana objectives.
Boosting Rural e-Commerce: Integrating rural producers with the ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) through India Post’s logistics spine will democratize digital trade for village artisans.
Operational Efficiency: Converging the resources of MoRD and DoP reduces the administrative overhead of creating parallel delivery systems for rural welfare schemes.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders: How will the Department of Posts ensure that the ‘Dak Sevaks’ are adequately trained and incentivized to handle the complex documentation required for SHG micro-credit and insurance products without compromising their primary duty of mail delivery?
Follow the full news here: MoU Between Department of Posts and MoRD