Problems galore with Post Office & Banks

The Laban Post Office which is operating from the campus of GPO, Shillong since “time immemorial” was hit by a link failure from Monday. As a result, business is at a loss while scores of customers have to return empty handed while few get their work done if that is not at the mercy of the computer. The staff doing sarkari naukri cannot do much in a digitized world where the internet is the lifeblood and if that is gone then we end up in places like the Laban Post Office. The authority concerned is not known to be doing much on this or else days without business must have been met with a troubleshooter. This is the reason why post offices should go private and rightly so, as many other services have done in other parts of the country. Apart from this link failure, the postal department has not been able to find a suitable place either to relocate this post office to Laban – where it originally belonged. The location on the lower floor of the GPO campus in a remote corner has become its address since long as customers have to literally mine their way to reach there.
On the other hand, the Central Bank of India ATMs in the city have also gone kaput. The ATM at the main branch in Bara Bazar is flashing the notice “Out of Service” on the screen while its “bashed up” counterpart outside the St. Anthony’s College main gate may have been replaced by a new machine but there is no money inside. The Red Hill Road ATM of this same bank in Laitumkhrah has closed down without any information, similar to what happened to the bank’s branch in Laban Last Stop area. The ATM attached to this branch has vanished with the bank branch. The SBI seems to have no solution in sight to fix its ATMs in the town. Then we have the Bank of Maharashtra ATM opposite the Shiva Temple in Howell Road, Laban which has since been closed down for want of footfalls. This bank has no ATM of its own anywhere in the territory of Meghalaya and the bank alone knows why it cannot find a place where footfalls are rampant.
One may well go to another bank ATM if a customer’s own bank ATM is not in order but then the withdrawal limit and interbank ATM charges prevent them from doing so. The ATM usage limit in a calendar month is also jeopardized if a customer uses his/her ATM in other banks.
Yours etc.,
BC Paul
Shillong – 4