After mangoes, now litchis in your mail; India Post to home-deliver fruits in some cities in Bihar

After transporting medical consignments, then Alphonso mangoes from Gujarat, India Post has now partnered with the Bihar government to deliver ‘Shahi Lichi’ and ‘Zardalu Mango’ at the doorstep of people in Patna, Muzaffarpur and Bhagalpur, the department said in a statement on Sunday. Following the COVID-19 outbreak, farmers faced the prospect of their produce going to waste given the nationwide lockdown. “The Bihar Postal Circle has made an agreement with Department of Horticulture, Government of Bihar, for logistics of Shahi Lichi from Muzaffarpur and Zardalu Mango from Bhagalpur and its delivery to the doorstep of the people,” the statement said.

The India Posts spokesperson said that the purchase will include delivery charges. The partnership has been forged to address the woes of litchi and mango cultivators in the state due to the lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus. [caption id=“attachment_4450345” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] People can place order for the fruits on the website of the Bihar horticulture department. The Shahi Lichi of Muzaffarpur and Zardalu Mango of Bhagalpur are famous variety of fruits. “This facility will be initially available to people of Muzaffarpur and Patna for Shahi Lichi and Patna & Bhagalpur for Zardalu Mango. Lichi will be booked minimum for 2 kilogram (kg) and mangoes for 5 kgs,” the statement said. According to the statement, till now order for 4,400 kgs Lichi has been placed on website and may go upto 1 lakh kgs during the season. Order for mangoes will start in last week of May. Ties up with ICMR In the first week of March, India Post had entered into a tie-up with with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for delivery of its COVID-19 testing kits to 200 additional labs designated for coronavirus testing across the country, according to PTI. While continuing to reach money to people’s doorsteps through Aadhaar enabled Payment System, India Post has entered into a tie-up with ICMR for delivery of its COVID-19 testing kits from its 16 regional depots to the 200 additional labs designated for COVID testing across the country, it said. Ties up Karnataka State Mango Dev Initially, India Post had started helping mango farmers in Karnataka through a tie-up with The Karnataka State Mango Development and Marketing Corporation. Earlier, India Post had helped transport Alphonse mangoes from Gujarat, according to The Hindu Businessline. “Currently due to lockdown, wholesale traders are buying directly from the mango orchards. But transportation remained a challenge for them. Since we have an established logistics network through all the districts, these people got engaged with us and we started taking mangoes along with our mails in the motor service,” Ashok Kumar Poddar, Chief Post Master General (CPMG), Gujarat Circle told the paper. The service will be extended to across Gujarat and Mumbai through the road network, it had reported.