In email and mobile era, the postal system is adapting to change remarkably well
The ring of the postman’s bicycle bell was music
to the ears for most people in the cities and towns, especially
villages where his unofficial job was also to read the letter and often
have a cup of tea with the receiver. We hardly see the postman these
days because personal letters are now nearly extinct.
Not much research is required to find out the reason for the decline in
personal letters. The decline began with the arrival of the internet,
and the mobile phone did the rest. The familiar red post boxes are now a
mere reminder of the glorious days of the dak.
Although in the past decade, the email and the mobile have emerged as
great threats to the traditional postal system, the Indian postal system
was one of the biggest services in the country known for its efficiency
and speed. Established in 1837, there were 889 post offices handling
nearly 43 million letters and over 4.5 million newspapers annually by
1861. This growth was unabated until the advent of the internet and the
mobile phone.
The general impression is that no one uses the postal system these days for sending letters. Is this impression correct?
“People think the number of postal letters delivered by India Post has
gone down. Actually, this is not the case,” says SS Kaushal, Senior Post
Master at the General Post Office, Sector 17, Chandigarh. “Only the
volume of personal letters has gone down, official letters have gone up
more than tenfold. However, the sale of postcards, inland letters,
envelopes and stamps has gone down very badly. You hardly see private
letters these days.”
Tirlok Singh, a postman who has been on the beat for two decades, too
agrees that he hardly delivers personal letters these days. “Even the
poor have a mobile, so they prefer to speak to their relatives and
friends rather than write a letter and post it.”
Keeping up with the times
Since the digital technology is here to stay, India Post is adapting to
it remarkably well. It is the job of Mandeep Puri, Systems Manager at
GPO, Chandigarh, to introduce new technology and train the staff so that
they can serve the customers better. “We have trained our staff to
slowly catch up with technology. For example, we now have an online
savings bank, Postal Life Insurance, time deposit, and ATM services.”
If the post office is going to do all this, what would be the difference
between the banks and the post office? “Postal services are faster,”
remarks Puri with a smile, “Banks charge money for the services, we give
our services free of cost or at minimal cost.”
In order to compete with private courier services, India Post has added
premium services such as the Speed Post and BSoft technology. Since no
private service can compete with the vast network of India Post, Speed
Post is highly efficient, especially in remote regions. The newly
introduced BSoft technology has made the clearance of cheques easy,
quick and much cheaper than the traditional money order.
Talking further on the advantages of using the postal service, Monica
Bhardwaj, Postal Assistant, says: “First, we had money order, then came
electronic money order but even that took three to four days because the
post man used to deliver it at home. Now, the department has launched a
new facility called instant money order. The money is transferred
within ten minutes. All you do is pay at one post office and within 10
minutes, it can be encashed in another post office, except in villages.
Through electronic money order, the limit was Rs 5,000, but through
instant money order, it is Rs 50,000 and the commission we charge is
only Rs 120.”
Another very useful product introduced is the e-Post. It bridges the gap
between the physical post and email. For email, both persons must have a
computer and an internet connection, but suppose you do not have these,
and you want to send a message urgently? AK Rai, Systems Administrator,
says, “You go to a post office, we take your message and mail it to the
nearest post office of the receiver. There, our person takes a printout
and delivers it as physical mail within 24 hours. And we charge only Rs
10 per A4 size sheet. The cost includes typing, printing, envelope and
delivery charge. We have our own network and email service, so we are
not dependent upon other service providers. It is like a modern version
of the telegram.”
So will we see a reduction in physical mail in future? “No matter what
technology is introduced, the physical mail will always be there,” says
Rai. “Physical records have their own value. I have preserved my
appointment letter to this day, and its value is only increasing with
time. Even now people post greeting cards, why? It is because they have a
personal touch that is lacking in e-greetings and emails.”
You may send a love letter by email, but would it have the same impact
if you wrote the letter by hand? Says Rai, “They are superficial and
ephemeral. Because you know what was sent to you was also forwarded to
50 other people. Physical mail will go on because it has connection with
the heart.”
There is a possibility of the handwritten letter making a comeback in a new avatar.
Write letter, win Rs 50,000
- In order to promote handwritten letters, the Ministry of
Communications, Department of Posts, has announced ‘Dhai Akhar’, a
letter-writing competition in Hindi, English or any vernacular language.
The competition has two categories: for those below 18 years and for
those above 18 years. One may write an inland letter, or an envelope by
August 15.
- The theme of the letter is: Bapu (Mahatma Gandhi), you inspire me.
- In both categories, there are three prizes. First prize is Rs 50,000, second prize Rs 25,000, and third prize Rs 10,000.
- For more details, visit: https://www.indiapost.gov.in/vas/Pages/IndiaPostHome.aspx
Source : http://www.tribuneindia.com/
