Bhubaneswar: The chief post master general (CPMG) of the Odisha circle Santosh Kumar Kamila has urged the Centre not to shut down the country’s lone postal department printing press located in the Mancheswar Industrial Estate locality here.
Kamila stated Friday that the move to shut down the press is part of a policy decision and it follows a recommendation of the Committee of Secretaries which stressed on rationalisation and modernisation, he said.
“A letter dated May 9 from the Ministry of Communication has sought closure of the press, but we have our constraints. We have requested them to reconsider the move and allow the establishment to continue,” Kamila informed.
Kamila also said that the department needs the facility to meet its requirements. “I have already sent two communications to the director general postal services, with a request to allow the printing press to continue functioning,” he stated.
While the next course of action will depend on the response of the authorities concerned, the department cannot afford to rely entirely upon private agencies for their requirement of printed materials, Kamila added.
The press was set up here in 1986. Officials stated that it publishes postal materials, election ballots, MGNREGA booklets and Ujjwala passbooks.
The CPMG is of the view that the printing press can function in a viable and professional manner by cost-cutting and reforms measures.
It has a staff strength of 138 and while many employees retired recently and several others are on the verge of retirement.
The decision to wind up the unit has triggered criticism and protest from different quarters, including the employees union of the printing press, postal personnel as well as political parties, mainly Left outfits.
CPI’s Odisha unit secretary Asish Kanungo condemned the move to shut down the printing unit and demanded a roll back of the decision.
Members of the Postal Printing Press Employees Union have also staged peaceful demonstration in Mancheswar protesting the move.
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