Dear Comrades,
As you know, the Open Session of our 7th Biennial Conference is going to be inaugurated on 6th April, 2012 by Dr. Chandan Mitra, Hon’ble Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and Chief Editor, “The Pioneer”. While inviting him, we had appraised him the problems of Odisha Postal Circle in general and that of Bhubaneswar Division in particular. Now he has been kind enough to support our genuine problems through publication in the popular English daily “ The Pioneer” ( Bhubaneswar Edition, dated 4th April, 2012) titled " It is high time BSNL vacated GPO building" which has been reproduced below for the knowledge of our members / viewers.
The members of AIPEU, Group-C, Bhubaneswar Division are grateful to the whole family of “ The Pioneer” for the concern they have shown in supporting and highlighting the genuine problems of postal employees.
Postal employees gearing up to air grievances at April 6 meet.
The All India Postal Employees’ Union, Group-C, Bhubaneswar Divisional Branch, is going to conduct its 7th Biennial Conference here on April 5 and 6. It is affiliated to the National Federation of Postal Employees, New Delhi.
The open session of the conference on April 6 will be inaugurated by Rajya Sabha member Dr Chandan Mitra. The employees are gearing up to use this opportunity to bring their grievances and operational difficulties to the attention of the authorities.
The employees point out that inaction by the Odisha Circle Postal administration in starting construction of departmental buildings and staff quarters in spite of lands having been acquired is causing huge losses to the department in the form of rent paid to owners of the private premises where a large number of postal activities are being housed at present. The delay has also resulted in the encroachment of the acquired lands.
In addition, they demand de-quarterisation of all Post Offices which have attached quarters below the Schedule of Accommodation and are now completely uninhabitable. They allege that the existing state of affairs is helping the department get financial benefit at the cost of the employees as the rent paid for such premises by the department is far less than the house rent allowance denied to employees who have been allotted such quarters.
Keeping in view the rapid increase in the number of services being offered by the Postal department, the employees feel the need for the local BSNL authorities to vacate the GPO building in Bhubaneswar immediately for smooth functioning of the GPO. After the split between the Department of Posts and the Department of Telegraphs and its subsequent transformation to the BSNL, the Postal employees believe this move is long overdue.
In the backdrop of the worsening law and order situation in local areas and the ever present threat of terrorism the employees’ body would like to have armed guards deployed in the GPO in the city and police escort for cash vans carrying cash from and to different post offices. The need for letter and parcel bomb detectors in post offices has also been felt by them.
Human Resources related issues are also on the radar of the employees’ body. The need for proper training on computer skills for personnel at all levels has been felt by them. They also suggest that women employees should not be posted in Post Offices which do not have suitable infrastructure.
Other issues in this context which have been identified by the employees as urgent includes provision of furniture to different Sub Post Offices and Mukhya Dak Ghar (MDG) in the Bhubaneswar Division, ensuring proper civil and electrical installation in post offices before their computerisation and provision of glass panels in counters where the employees deal with customers.
Keeping in view the needs of the customers the employees’ body has identified several steps for making the postal premises customer friendly while ensuring a good working environment for the employees. The list includes provision of air-conditioning and mini water coolers in all Project Arrow Post Offices, supply of literatures and brochures in adequate numbers to meet the need of the customers and properly trained staff.
They also have raised the issue of the need of a second Head Post Office in Bhubaneswar Division. The division covers a huge area and includes three Postal Sub Divisions over eight revenue blocks, a General Post Office, five MDGs , 65 Sub Post offices and 173 Branch Post Offices. The GPO functions as the only accounting office for all such Post Offices.
The workload of the GPO is increasing rapidly and there is the need of diverting some post offices, especially all the rural ones to another Head Post Office. The Divisional administration of Bhubaneswar has already submitted a proposal to the Chief Postmaster general of Odisha proposing Sahidnagar Mukhya Dak Ghar as the second Head Post Office with 25 Sub Post Offices under its fold.
The interest of the State has also been under consideration by the employees and they have raised the subject of very few numbers of Commemorative Stamps and First Day Covers of places and persons of Odisha possessing historical or cultural importance having been released till date. They are gearing up to demand immediate steps by the Postal Directorate in this regard to cover the large number of deserving cases existing in the State.
Courtesy :The Pioneer, 4 April, 2012
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