Make postal service efficient

Let me cite several practical examples which I myself experienced in different post offices. Some of these experiences found their place in several dailies in the letters columns which exerted no effort on the part of the authority on general people. One such incident I experienced at Gulshan 1 post office on October 15,2004 in the month of Ramadan. Since then I have decided not to go to any post office. I must get my postal related works done through courier service. Though I can get my postal related works done by different channels without going to any post offices myself, I go to see for myself how it goes on. I try to observe closely what things are going on in different sectors of our poor nation and compare how things go on in other countries of the world. On October 15, 2004 I queued for more than half an hour in the said post office. When it was 12:50 I approached the counter and the clerk doing the job. He just looked at me and other customers numbering seven with very angry eyes but told nothing. When we requested to take our money order form he just told NO. We politely wanted to know the reason he just told "I am not ready to explain the reason." Then I put my money order form before him and told to write his inability to take my money order form at 12.50. He more angrily told me "who are you, I am not bound to give any written comment to you". I just told politely, "I am a citizen of this country, I have every right to receive my due postal service from my country". All the other seven customers also politely requested and then exchanged words but to no avail. Really he is a government employee! Who will take action against him! However, I went to the in-charge of the post office and told him the matter. Oh, how beautiful his answer was, "It is one p.m. now, why he will take your money."

Now the reasonable questions arise. Why didn't the authority hang a signboard that after 1pm no money order would be taken. If it really happens then what the people would do upto 3 pm at the office which in the month of Ramadan remains open upto 3 pm? What would happen to the customers who are unable to complete their work within this period? Don't the postal authority think about earning more giving more opportunity to the customers? Why aren't they giving training to the staff to make them more efficient? Why post office follow the same time table like other offices?

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If the post office had been in the private sector what would have happened here? The person entrusted with the duty of taking money order could do ten times more work than the existing government clerk does there just at a snail's pace. His behaviour must have been very polite and gentle. He knew how to behave with gentlemen and with his customers to expand his business. He must have been trained that way. He would take the money order form till the end of the office, even after office hours, as he would be given incentive to make more money order. The more money order he can process, the more his organisation will be benefited. Whereas the government employee thinks if he does more work, what is his personal benefit? This is why he is doing the work very reluctantly. Rather he was not trained in that way. He does not know how to behave with a gentleman. He is not encouraged to increase government income. He is not motivated how to attract people to the post office. But he perhaps knows if he violates any rules, nothing will happen to him. So the case is as usual.

After the incident I decided to let the matter be known to the higher authorities of postal department. Later on, I ceased to do so thinking they don't have any effective or fruitful mechanism to give punishment to the wrong doers and improve the service. Had it been the case, things must have got changed. Rather I can take the help of newspapers to give my message to the courier service to make it more available to the general public. As people now prefer to go to private bank instead of going to nationalised bank. Nationalised bank takes two hours to make a bank draft of taka fifty. The same work is performed in a private bank in minutes. Had the people not been bound to go to the nationalised bank, nobody would go there. The same thing is happening to postal department also.

During my stay at Monipuripara near Farmgate I used to receive/enjoy the postal service of Khamarbari post office. Once I went to the said post office to send some parcel of degree examination scripts. As soon as I entered the post office, the on duty post master in his shrill voice said to me, "These things are not done here, go to another post office." I told that I did the same thing last year from that post office. He seemed not ready to listen to me. He just repeated "we don't do this thing here". Still I don't know what was the cause of not doing it. I printed a letter in the letter columns in different English dailies reflecting the matter just to draw the attention of the higher authorities of postal department. I don't know whether it caught the attention of any people of postal department.

I used to frequently visit Uttara sub-post office where I was denied to have ten envelopes together several times. Causes are still unknown to me. At the money order counter there you will see everyday a long queue. I fail to understand why the postal authority has kept a lazy person there. People are to keep standing in front of the counter hour after hour and even some customers come out of the post office being disgusted and frustrated with the slow service. But nobody of postal department seems to be bothered about it.

Another day I went to Santinagar post office. I happened to see a queue in front of the money order counter. A richshawpuller occurred to be there to make a money order but he was behind in the line. He was requesting the other customers to give him the turn as he kept his rickshaw outside. However, the kind people in line made room for him but the government employee of the desk was tenacious. He was to find out fault with the rickshawpuller. However, he found a fault with the money order form and gave it back to the rickshawpuller. He made it correct and waited for several minutes. Again he requested the new people in line to give him turn. Again the kind people did it. But the efficient postman counted the money several times and returned it to the customer saying it was difficult for him to count the money as it was in small bills (ten taka or twenty taka notes). Was it a fault! This is the service our postal men render to the countrymen. So how do they expect to have enhanced revenue?

More and more examples can be given. But that is not necessary. What is necessary is to make the postal service easily and quickly available to the customers. Stop time consuming service. Give training to the employees and staff to make them more efficient, service oriented, and public welfare oriented. Give them incentives and motivation to be realistic in the greater interest of the nation.

Md. Masum Billah is an NGO activist.