A digital crossover process in Post Offices under Dharmanagar Division in Tripura has badly hit the postal services. The crossover process started as the modernizing the Post Offices. Pity, the process is taking too much time to be completed and preventing people from accessing postal service. Moreover, rural people, in many areas, are at loggerheads with the agents of different postal schemes.
As part of the digital crossover process, it was decided that a new software system would be installed in all the Post Offices under Dharmanagar Division spanning over the North Tripura, Unakoti, Dhalai and Khowai districts. It was also said that the system up-gradation would take seven days during which services in Post Offices would remain suspended. There are around 38 Post Offices under the Dharmanagar division.
Accordingly, Post Offices remained closed since November 6 last and it was supposed to resume normal services from November 12 last.
“However, till November 17, normalcy in service delivery has been not been restored”, alleged local people of Khowai district.
They also alleged, the Postal delivery from the Khowai Post Office has also been affected. Besides, common people have been hard hit as they are unable to withdraw and deposit money in the Post Offices due to the ongoing modernization bid.
“There are several customers, at least in Khowai, where they need to deposit installment for the Recurring Deposits (RDs) within 15th of every month – if they fail to do so, they have to pay a penalty at the rate 1 percent”, one of the customers said.
“When we talked about the problems that we are facing due to the technical issues, the Postal department personnel could not give us any definite response”, people alleged.
Not just the customers, agents working for different Postal schemes are also drawing the ire of customers as the agents are also unable to deposit money – and return the receipt to customers in return.
“A serious mistrust is brewing – particularly the elderly customers of rural areas have started doubting the honesty of their agents”, one of the agents of Khowai lamented.