July 11, 2016
Kalaivaraikalai
We all are tuned to cope up with the delays and defaults of government
services. Yes, in India, approaching a government office is generally
perceived as “the job of the jobless;” and if anyone dares to do that,
he/she should be prepared to buy “ thousand pairs of sandals” before
getting the task done (Courtesy: a commercial from a footwear company).
For the same reason I had developed an aversion towards India Post
services when I was living in metros, far away from my family in Kerala.
The indefinite wait for receiving a registered post or a letter from my
family had often made me vent my anger on the lifeless bricks of my
house. It was when I fell prey to the ‘lightning speed’ promises of the
private courier companies. .
Surprisingly, the story has a different twist now. India Post has
evolved to a tech-savvy, people friendly service; on the other side, the
courier mafia has grown arrogant and unapproachable. I am totally
unhappy with the way private courier companies are handling the service;
and trust me, now I am in deep love with India Post speed post service!
Yes, India Post has transformed a lot; they are no more the slowpoke,
but are the people-friendly mail delivery service of the new-age Indian.
The process is simple, but highly professional. I book the post at a
post office at a minimum price; it costs less than half of private
courier service. My mobile number is attached to the packet. The moment
the party receives the packet, I get an SMS. In case someone sends me a
packet where my number is mentioned I get the message as soon as it
reaches my post office. What’s more impressive is that you can track the
packet, bit by bit – done in a superb way – much more professional than
the so-called professional couriers! (See the image below).
See the image below).
Have you ever approached a private courier helpline and have you ever
succeeded in getting a satisfactory answer from them? If yes, you are
lucky! I have had enough bad experience from them. The numbers given in
the website never get on their way. In case I succeed in connecting one
of them, the executives play smarter by re-directing our calls to the
next agent or asking us to contact the next branch office, and so on.
Frustrated, I have also filed a legal case against a courier firm that
failed to deliver a cheque to my old mother. They asked her to travel a
long 25 km to collect the packet. The reason: they don’t have the
service in that remote village.
Yes, here’s the success of our own India Post that has 154,866 post
offices, (89.8% of which belong to rural India). Hats off to the
visionaries of this postal system; now we are able to connect anyone in
any corner of India- even in places where telephone, cable TV and
electricity are distant dreams. I was sad when the Department of Posts
announced the “demise” of Telegram services a few years ago. I feared
the same will happen to the Inland letter, post card, post cover and
those sticky stamps, all of which still sleep in the treasure box of my
romantic days! Indeed, they arouse the nostalgic at the same time
exciting memories of those days when I eagerly waited for the postman
carrying the letter/ greetings from my boyfriend!
Memories will fade away, so are the materials on earth that build those
memories. In this age of e-mail, Whatsapp and 123greetings.com, there is
no point in worrying about the fate of inland, post cards, and the
like; but I still feel we should preserve our postal network without any
damage to it, and uphold its integrity of serving the people in a
democratic way. I am optimistic seeing the evolution of our age-old
post-office to a banking center, a pension/PF shelter for elderly, an
e-commerce collection center, and much more in offing.
.bmp)
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