SHILLONG: They are the lesser mentioned frontline workers and among the most vulnerable groups in this time of pandemic. But the postal department employees, including the mail men, in the Shillong circle are doing a yeoman service during the lockdown.
From delivering letters, pension to essential medicines, the postal department is proving more indispensable in this crisis. The 100-odd employees at Shillong GPO, which covers most parts of the state except Garo Hills, are putting in extra hours so that the mail service is not disrupted.
“We are delivering pension on the doorstep, even in rural areas. Once I had also gone out (to deliver pension money),” said a senior official at the GPO.
The postal service has already delivered around 66 personal protective kits with “5-6 kits being supplied to hospitals like NEIGRIHMS every day”, said another official. It is also delivering other life-saving medicines, most of which are coming from mainland cities like Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. The volume of medicine delivery has increased by about 3 per cent.
Even private entities like Amazon and Flipkart are taking the help of postal service “though the flow of parcels is less now but we expect it to increase over time”, said the senior official.
There are 33 postmen, the main frontline workers who are geared with masks, hand sanitiser and gloves, which have been supplied by the government.
The lockdown has led to an increase in customers at the GPO by 10-20 per cent as other private mail delivery services have taken a hit. The workload has increased manifold and “our staff are working till 9 pm on some days”, the senior official said. The work becomes strenuous when only about 80 per cent of the staff are in attendance. Transportation is a problem and the office is trying to provide pick-up and drop facilities to the employees. “But sending vehicles to different localities around the city was becoming difficult. So we have requested our staff to use their vehicles and we are helping them get curfew passes,” he added.
Among other services provided by the postal department here are India Posts Payment Banks and postal life insurance at the doorstep. The six mail delivery vans are catering to the various districts and remote areas through 423 branch post offices. The drivers of the vans have allotted working days and they have to follow strict safety measures. Despite the safety measures, the risk of contracting an infected person remains. Five postal service employees, including two senior officials, have reportedly died of COVID-19 in the country. “We do thermal screening of customers but what if an elderly person comes with high fever? We cannot turn him or her away. We have to serve without knowing whether we will contract the disease,” said the other official.
The GPO employees were also apprehensive in the initial days of the lockdown “when many foreigners stuck in Shillong would come for money exchange but their number has gone down now”. The “confusing orders” of the district administration about “how normally work should continue” are also hindering the postal work. And all these troubles for the postal staff have been accompanied by salary deduction.
