On February 27 we carried a news item which said that a delay in delivering a call letter to a lady had robbed her of a chance to appear for an interview and in February 28 we carried another story which highlighted the plight of the people of Ukhrul following the complete break down in the postal service in this hill district. In the first instance the call letter was received by the intending candidate on March 25 though the interview was slated for March 24.
As the intending candidate contended, the call letter was dispatched from Frankfinn Management Consultant, New Delhi on March 12 and we wonder why the letter took so long to be delivered to the candidate's address at Sagolband Bijoy Govinda Mamang Leikai. Here is a story of not only an intending candidate being robbed of her chance to appear for a job but about a system which has gone to the dogs. Likewise in Ukhrul district too, the people there have had to cope with a defunct postal system and sending and receiving speed post, registered post, money order and ordinary letters have become virtually impossible.
One candidate intending to appear for the CPO examination received his call letter five days after the scheduled date and what is more another student who was staying outside the State returned home without receiving the money order sent him through the Ukhrul post office. Such instances are not isolated cases and in the past too the state media have highlighted a number of delayed deliveries that had robbed the opportunity of a number of job hunting youngsters.
Why is the postal service so dismal here? Is it a case of sheer negligence on the part of the post men or plain inefficiency of those working at the post office or has it got some thing to do with the irregular postal address that are being used in the State right now? Or is it a combination of all these factors? Either way the authority concerned need to wake up to the fact that they have no right to subject the people to severe inconveniences.
Come to think about it. This is the information age where the whole world is just a mouse click away and to think that the future of a young man or young woman can be jeopardized by some unexplained delay in delivering letters or documents is hard to digest. There should be absolutely no reason why a letter received at eh head post office here should take days to be delivered to an address given within the State and it is time the authority of the Postal Department start cracking the whip and see where the loopholes are.
If such cases of delay can happen in the State capital and in a district headquarter where the facilities are believed to be better off than some of the other hill districts then it is frightening to think of the condition in the smaller towns and villages. We really do not think much effort will be needed if the Postal Department is intent on improving its functioning for all that needs is the character to change and change for the better.
Ultimately what is needed is to drill some sense into the employees that the salaries and pay they are earning is for them to dispense with their duties. This is the mindset that should prevail amongst all the Government employees not only amongst the Postal Service staff.
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