On January 7, 2026, the Department of Posts (DoP), doing business as Indian Post under the Ministry of Communications signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) and the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare(DoAFW) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoAFW) in New Delhi, Delhi, to establish a national logistics mechanism for rural citizens, farmers, and Self-Help Groups(SHGs).
- The MoUs were signed in the presence of Union Minister Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia, Ministry of Communications and Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER); and Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, MoRD and MoAFW.
Exam Hints:
- What? 2 MoUs signed
- Where? New Delhi (Delhi)
- MoU 1: DoP & DAY-NRLM(MoRD)
- Purpose: To strengthen services for SHGs and rural households in India
- Alignment: ‘Dak Sewa, Jan Sewa’
- MoU 2: DoP & DoAFW(MoAFW)
- Purpose: To transport agricultural samples nationwide
- Framework: PAN-India Online Pesticide, Seed, Fertilizer Quality Management System; QR-based address masking & digital tracking
MoU with MoRD:
Purpose: The MoU with DAY‑NRLM(Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Rural Livelihoods Mission) under the MoRD, aims to expand financial, digital, and logistics services for SHGs and rural households, supporting women and rural entrepreneurs while accelerating rural development and financial inclusion.
Role of Entities:
- IPPB: Under the MoU, India Post Payments Bank (IPPB), under the Ministry of Communications, will provide doorstep banking services, deploy digital tools such as tablets and Point of Sales (PoS) machines, and train SHG women as Business Correspondents. IPPB will issue certificates for the SHGs.
- DoP: The DoP will ensure last-mile service delivery, support Aadhaar enrolment and updation, promote Postal Life Insurance (PLI) and Rural PLI, and facilitate market and export access for SHG products through Dak Ghar Niryat Kendras.
- MoRD: It will mobilize SHGs, link beneficiaries under its rural development schemes and coordinate capacity-building and implementation at the grassroots level.
Alignment: The initiative aligns with ‘Dak Sewa, Jan Sewa’ vision, launched in 2024 to transform India Post into a people-centric, technology-enabled service provider delivering banking, insurance, digital, and welfare services across rural and remote areas
MoU with MoAFW:
Purpose: The MoU aims to create a nationwide system for transporting pesticide, seed and fertilizer samples to testing laboratories across India.
Role of Entities: Under this agreement, India Post will end-to-end logistics support for safely and quickly transporting samples collected by agriculture inspectors.
Seamless Transportation: The MoU will ensure fast, secure and traceable transportation of agricultural input samples, strengthen quality control and regulatory enforcement, and protect farmers from fake and substandard pesticides, seeds and fertilizers.
Faster Delivery: The sample delivery time will be reduced from 10-15 days to 48-72 hours, enabling faster testing and quicker corrective action.
Framework: The initiative is part of the PAN(Pesticide Action Network) -India Online Pesticide, Seed and Fertilizer Quality Management System being developed by Centre for Research and Industrial Staff Performance (CRISP) and incorporates Quick Response (QR)-based address masking for confidentiality, digital tracking for end-to-end traceability.
About Ministry of Communications:
Union Minister – Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia (Constituency – Guna, Madhya Pradesh, MP)
Minister of State (MoS) – Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani (Constituency – Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, AP)
