Boinda: A single employee running the Rajkishorenagar sub-post office in Kishorenagar block of Angul district is not its only problem; there are numerous others and they together badly affect the sub-post office’s day-to-day work.
For all practical purposes, the sub-post office is the main post office in the block. Apart from branch post offices at Dhaurapali and Joerat panchayat, the ones at Ambapal, Angapada, Bakur, Ghoshar, Himitira, Kadalimunda, Kalayanpur, Kiakata, Oskapali, Raniakata, Sanjamura, Tusur and Urukula generally depend largely on this sub-post office.
For services like deposit and withdrawal of money and sending letters, the block office, tehsil office, two banks, schools, college, treasury, health centre and police station also count on this sub-post office.
But the service being provided here is unsatisfactory, thanks to a staff crunch among other things.
One assistant post master is somewhat managing the scene as the post master’s post is lying vacant for years together. The office has also a peon but he looks after sorting and distribution of mail.
People returning without getting their work done like deposit and withdrawal of money after standing in queue for hours has become a common scene here.
At times the post office does not have adequate stamps, forms and other papers. Consumers are seen being asked to write necessary information about the purpose of their visit to be dealt with later. “We do count on this lone post office in the locality. But most of the time, we are asked to come later citing one or the other reason,” a distraught villager said.
Echoing the same problem, another villager said, “It is no wonder if someone finds the post office running short of forms and stamps, because it has become the feature of this post office.”
As if it were not bad enough that the sub post office suffers from a staff crunch and shortage of necessary forms, it does not even have battery or generator facility thus bringing all work to a halt in the event of a power cut.
Alleging that the concerned authority is least concerned about improving service despite the fact that the per day average transaction here is more than Rs 10 lakh, locals demanded immediate steps to improve the situation.
When contacted, assistant postmaster Manoranjan Dehury said he had intimated the problems to the deputy postal manager. “I hope things would be better in the coming days,” he said.
PNN