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He's the P-man at Pomburpa Post Office BY MELVYN MISQUITA
the branch postmaster left the Pomburpa post office on February 22. “I’ve not taken a single leave since February 22. If I take leave, the post office will have to be closed and this would inconvenience the people of Pomburpa,” adds Rashikant. Rashikant says he has been a daily wage worker at the Pomburpa PO for the past 15 years. “Whenever I ask my superiors for confirmation in my services, they reply: ‘If you are unhappy, please leave’,” says Rashikant. Located opposite the Pomburpa panchayat, the Pomburpa PO is housed in deplorable premises. The hall is large, but the space is of no use to Rashikant. There are no fans simply because electricity is yet to be supplied to the post office. And the unbearable heat within the premises is heightened as the windows are constantly closed, due to lack of window grills. In the absence of electricity and proper ventilation, the open door provides the only source of light and air flow to the Pomburpa PO. Rashikant also has to place his tables close to the main entrance to ensure visibility in the dark premises. Then, there is no water supply and no toilet, while the roof is in urgent need of repair. Moreover, there are no official timings at the Pomburpa PO. “We are only told to keep the office open for 5 hours a day. Since I’m alone, I try my best to keep the post office open from 10 am to 3 pm,” informs Rashikant. Rashikant’s work begins when he opens the post office at 10 am. “After cleaning the premises, I go to the Carona (Aldona) post office, some 4 kms away, at about 10.30 am to bring in the mail for the Pomburpa PO. Sorting alone takes about an hour and I return with my mail bag at about 11.30 am,” explains Rashikant. From 11.30 am to 1 pm, Rashikant turns into a postmaster, as he opens the counter -- two old tables to be precise -- to the many customers who come in to purchase stamps and pay telephone bills, besides attending to money orders, recurring deposits and the 400-odd postal savings accounts. The flow of customers is such that Rashikant sometimes finds it difficult to collect the mail from Carona. In fact on the day the Herald team visited the Pomburpa PO, Rashikant could not collect mail from the Carona post office, as he had to attend to the customers. Left with no choice, he sent a boy to collect mail from the Carona post office. “Please tell the postmaster at Carona I could not come today because there are a lot of customers here,” Rashikant told the boy. In fact, one customer, who was perspiring due to the unbearable heat in the Pomburpa PO, hit out at the postal authorities. “Why should they (postal officials) treat the people of Pomburpa so shabbily,” queried the angry customer. Besides conducting routine transactions, Rashikant also helps fill in the forms on behalf of the illiterate customers, make entries into the various registers and sort out the numerous letters and parcels. “I also have to single-handedly manage the huge amounts of currency notes that keeps flowing into an open tray,” explains Rashikant. ‘An open tray? What about a safe to store the currency,’ was our prompt query. “Take a look at official safe I have been given to store the money,” replies Rashikant, as he points to an old rusted box. “The windows have no grills and if I keep the money -- which on average is about Rs 20,000 per day -- in that box, it is very easy to break open the windows with the slightest push and steal the cash box.” Left with no option, Rashikant has to take law into his hands. “This place offers absolutely no safety and hence, I am forced to take all the money home. I then deposit the money at the Carona post office the next day,” explains Rashikant. From 1 am to 3 pm, Rashikant returns to his earlier role as postman, as he takes his motorcycle and travels the length and breadth of Pomburpa to deliver mail. “On average, I travel about 40-50 kms to cover about 80 houses per day. Of the Rs 100 that I earn each day, Rs 30 is spent on petrol bills alone, as I have to pay for the petrol bills,” says Rashikant. He may have ignored all these problems, but Rashikant has been extremely hurt by the attitude of the officials at the post office. “Since February 22, not a single official has visited the Pomburpa PO to witness the pathetic conditions of the post office first hand,” informs Rashikant. “And when they do make their rare visits, the officers keep asking us: ‘Why is there the need for a Pomburpa post office?’. Invariably, these officers hang only for only about 30 minutes, due to the unbearable heat inside the premises,” Rashikant adds. “Once, I requested an officer to consider upgrading the premises. I told him that the rent for new premises would cost about Rs 800 per month. The officer simply turned round and asked me to pay the rent, as if were my private business,” retorted Rashikant. When contacted, a senior official from the Postal department, who spoke on condition of anonymity, explained that the Pomburpa PO is classified as an Extra Department Branch Post Office (EDBPO). “According to rules, it is the responsibility of the postmaster to provide premises for the EDBPO,” explained the official. “In fact, those appointed to work at EDBPOs had to give an undertaking at the time of their employment that they would provide premises for the EDBPO.” The official pointed out that the neighbouring panchayats of Penha-da-Franca and Salvador-do-Mundo have provided spacious premises to their post offices for free. “Why can’t the Pomburpa panchayat do the same? Either the panchayat should provide free premises or the post master should pay the rent. We however plan to write a letter to the Pomburpa panchayat, asking them to provide better premises for the Pomburpa PO,” the official said. “In some EDBPOs,” added the official, “the situation is such that there is no transaction for 4-5 days. In fact, the Pomburpa PO was once running at a loss and as a result, one person was recently removed from the post.” Denying that Rashikant was being overworked and that he was on daily wages, the official said: “We have calculated his work and as a Gramin Dak Sevak, he has to only put in 3-5 hours of daily work. In fact, he is getting more salary than many courier boys in private firms.” The postal official also dismissed claims that there were 400 active postal savings accounts at the Pomburpa PO. “Many of them are not in operation for a long time. It is not also true that he (Rashikant) travels an average of 40 kms a day. It would be like making three trips from Pomburpa to Panjim.” [Comments on this report] Date: Sat, 7 May 2005 Goa needs honest and hard working people like Rashikant Adfadkar. Goa has a shortage of honest people. Goa has too many corrupt and dishonest people. Since Goa became a colony of India in 1961, there is no law and order in Goa. Indian government sent many criminals IAS Babus to Goa, train Goan criminal politicians of MGP, UGDP, Congress, BJP how to spread legacy of corruption all over Goa from Zilla parishad, panchayat up to MLA level and among Goan people. Indian corrupt financial corporations like Salient online robbed Goan people in crores with Goa politicians, Goan police involved. Support "GOENKARANCHO EKVOTT MOVEMENT" BASED IN USA, to overthrow the Indian Colonizer out of Goa, drive unwanted Indians out of Goa, to send corrupt Goan Politicians, Goan Police force, and Indian IAS Babus to Aguada jail. To restore democracy, freedom, justice, and principality to Goan people. Agnelo
Gomes Date: Tue, 10 May 2005
For
all the work he is doing from the goodness of his heart he should be given an
award! UK Date:
Wed, 11 May 2005 Cheers, To comment on this report, please Click Here to contact Melvyn Misquita. |
