Bhubaneswar: In a bid to improve postal services in the state, all the post offices will be computerized by March 2018, said Odisha Circle Chief Post Master General Santosh Kumar Kamila here on Wednesday.

The computerized post offices will provide postal services to people in better way, he said.

Total 8,175 post offices will be computerized by March next year.

The postal department wants to create a bonding among the postal employees, postmen and customers so that they can share happiness through the postal services, said the 1986 batch Indian Postal Service officer Kamila.

The postal service was launched in India in the year 1854. There are 8,175 post offices in Odisha, more than branch offices of all the banks. All types of services including letter dispatch, banking and insurance are available in major post offices in the state.

The postal that covers the welfare programmes including saving account, RD, very few might have knowledge that the department was first to have launched insurance service in 1884, Kamila said.

Odisha was the first in executing GDS recruitment. People are now using the postal department for various bill payments. We are making arrangement to provide service ensuring people to make all kinds of payments through post office, he further said

We have also appointment in sports. The sportspersons having bagged titles in both national and international sports events are being appointed in the postal service without entrance test. We are planning to include the sports like hockey in the department for recruitment to fill the vacancy, he added.