A stitch in time to save speed post in Thiruvananthapuram

Employees allege that the speed post services in the city have taken a hit after the shift in location from the General Post Office, Pulimoodu, to the Railway Mail Services in Thampanoor.
The Thiruvananthapuram unit of the National Federation of Postal Employees held a dharna in front of the Railway Mail Services office
The Thiruvananthapuram unit of the National Federation of Postal Employees held a dharna in front of the Railway Mail Services office

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM :  The recent shifting of the National Sorting Hub (NSH) from the General Post Office (GPO), Pulimoodu, to the Railway Mail Services (RMS) in Thampanoor has stirred up a hornet’s nest. For the past three months, the NSH has been operating out of the RMS. It has led to more trouble than good with heavy bottleneck being observed at the premises during the arrival and dispatch of the mails, according to the employee faction belonging to the National Federation of Postal Employees (NFPE). A #savespeedpost campaign is gradually picking up on social media too. 

Employees allege that the speed post services in the city have taken a hit after the shift in location. On Wednesday, the Thiruvananthapuram unit of the NFPE held a dharna in front of the RMS office seeking the shifting of the NSH to a more spacious location.

The NHS had been operating out of the GPO for more than a decade. Over 100 employees presently work on the ground floor of the RMS right adjacent to the transit mail office. “The rush is pronounced in the evening hours when mails are dispatched.

There are times when thousands of bags arrive. The mails brought in from the bus, flight and rail all get sorted and dispatched from here. Bringing the speed post services here has resulted in much confusion and delay in executing work. Eventually, the speed post services which has been running smoothly till now, will collapse,” said P V Rajendran, secretary, Kerala circle, R3 union of RMS.

The employees have decided to scale up the protest in case their grievances are not addressed immediately. The members are seeking the shifting of NSH to the Postal Stores Depot in Vadakkenada, near West Fort. 
“Speed post is one of the kernels of the postal service which a lot of people rely on. This is a transit mail office and a lot of trains bring in the mail service,” said Sudersanan, assistant circle secretary, R3. “People will eventually move to private courier services which charge exorbitant rates,” he added.

The group is also campaigning on social media with the #savespeedpost hashtag. “Eventually, people will be affected. If this is not saved now, it will become a snail post. It is the lack of space in sorting and processing that affects functioning. This congestion has to be addressed at the earliest,” says R S Suresh Kumar, circle secretary, R4.

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