Gurgaon’s creaky postal service

But who posts letters anymore in 'Cyber City', you ask? Lots of people, apparently, and many of them say they now provide a Delhi address for postal purposes, because with Gurgaon's unreliable service, people, you probably ain't got mail!

Hard as it may be to believe, even in the Millennium City, the land of Wi-Fi and instant messaging - one of Gurgaon residents' favourite songs might be The Carpenters' classic Please Mr Postman. Apparently, Gurgaonwallahs do use snail mail, and rue the lack of an efficient postal service in the city. They depend on private courier services, saying that the snail mail connectivity would be very poor were it left to its postal system only. The postal staff work only part-time, they say, and the understaffed post offices are like 'caricatures of government offices' - always over-crowded, with the staff never seeming to show any interest or inclination in helping the residents. While some of the residents have still not noticed the sad state of affairs because they anyway use private couriers and email, others say that they've had to take the more expensive option of courier services after having given up on the sarkaari daak khana.

Postal system is messed up: Residents

Locals say that they never know if anything they want to send or expect to receive through the post office is ever going to get through. "I feel like they never even empty the letter box at the post office. It just stands there for the sake of it. Last year, on my son's birthday, I'd decided to post invitations to his birthday party to all the invitees, to teach my son how to post letters. It turned out be so embarrassing and disappointing. The invitations never went through. Even if there was a hitch, they should have reached people sooner or later, but it's been a year, and I am guessing that the letters are still in that box!" says Rimjhim Bhandari, a dentist.
"The system is totally haywire. I had subscribed to these magazines and journals months ago, and I've never received even a single one of them. Delhi is so well-connected in this aspect, but the Gurgaon postal system is pathetic. Plus, the post office officials are so rude, it's impossible to talk to them," says Mamta Kumar, a housewife. "Bahut random hisaab-kitaab hai. Post ki hui letter kabhi milti hai, kabhi bahut late milti hai, toh kabhi milti hi nahi hai. Koi guarantee ya reliability nahin hai. Bhagwan bharose letter mil gaya toh mil gaya, warna aap wait karte raho jab tak marzi ho tab tak. Sab hi pareshan hain isse," says Shikha Rai, a housewife.

If you are not happy, voice your complaints!: Post offices

Officials at various post offices across Gurgaon say that the services are not as bad as they are being made out to be, and that the residents should complain if they are facing problems.

"Aisa toh kuch bhi nahi hai. 1-2% delay ya gadbad toh har jagah ho jaati hai, par 100% delay toh humari taraf se nahi hai. Aur jo staff permanent nahi hai, uska toh humne intezam kara hua hai. Appointment process toh chalti hi rehti hai. Saadharan daak ka toh hamare paas hisaab nahi rehta hai, par uske alawa jo bhi hai, log complain karenge toh jo hamare postmasters ke bas mein hoga, woh karenge. Warna complaint hum tak aa jaegi," says RA Yadav, assistant superintendent, Post Office, Sadar Bazaar, Gurgaon. Dayanad, the postmaster there, says, "Hamare area mein toh saara staff permanent hai. Aur ab hum DLF Phase-I mein bhi ek naya post office launch kar rahe hain, toh aap wahan aakar joh bhi pareshani hai discuss karein. The services might vary from sector to sector."

"Har postman ke paas kaam hi itna zyaada hai. Aur yeh pareshani agar ho rahi hai toh proper addressing na hone ki wajah se ho rahi hai. Par haan, humari strength kam hai. Manpower nahi hai humare paas abhi," says an official from the Sohna Road post office, on the condition of anonymity.

"Aisa toh nahi hai ki humne daily wages pe postmen rakh liye hain. 30 years purane job waale hain sab. Agar kabhi same day delivery nahi hoti hai toh next day karwa dete hain. Toh aisa toh nahi hona chahiye," says Roshni Ahuja, post master, Sector 14, while Garima Hasija, the postal assistant there, says, "Maana hamare postmen ke paas kaam bahut zyada hai, par aisa toh nahi hai ki woh galat address pe chitthi daal denge ya chitthi pahuchaenge hi nahi. If there is some discrepancy with the addresses, then that's a different issue. Agar koi trackable article na hokar, ordinary article hai toh phir unki toh koi guarantee nahi hoti hai. Usmein toh jitna time lagta hai, lagta hai. Speedpost ya registered article mein problem hai toh hamare paas koi complaints nahi aaye hain. Hamare postmen sab purane hain. We have six postmen aur unke toh naam aur address ratey hue hain. Overtime ke liye kabhi alag se postmen hote hain toh bhi ye complaint toh nahi aayi hai."

Source : http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com