I had forgotten about the Kishan Vikas Patra purchased for my wife in year 2004. They matured in Feb 2013. I need to encash / get credit / redeem them. Since the post office is not near to home, I need to plan a visit to post office on a working day. I need to make two visits to get the credit of funds.

Few observations:

1. If the certificates are not in your name, they need to be signed by the owning person before you go to the post office.
2. If the owning person is not visiting along with you, you need to carry a letter of authorization signed by her.
3. Identity proof like voter id/ pan card of the owning person. Name should match exactly as on the certificate.
4. You can get a cheque in owning person name. I got the funds deposited into the PPF account with the same post office. Hence, I did not take the cheque for maturity amount.
5. You need to visit the post office by 1:30 pm. I had visited around 12 pm.