The Pakistan Post is one of the oldest government departments in the country. A postman has always enjoyed respect and love in our society. However, now things are changing. Technological developments and commercialism of the time are fast taking over the role earlier performed by the postman.
The Pakistan Post has been headed by a Minister. There is a huge bureaucracy under him including Chairman of the Board, a Federal Secretary and Managing Director. What is the performance of these high profile public functionaries? Let me explain; a letter sent by Urgent Mail Service (UMS) in Pakistan started its journey from GPO Islamabad on January 11 and reached its destination in Zone V, Sector O-9, Islamabad on January 18, some ‘urgent service’ don’t you agree? Even a pedestrian could have covered this distance by foot in a couple of hours.
This is the state of UMS, which was introduced by Pakistan Post for quick and safe delivery of letters. What about ordinary mail service? This explains why the people prefer comparatively costly private courier services.
Maybe Pakistan Post is secretly helping the private sector to grow! The postman’s respect in society can only be maintained if the high-ups in the department fine tune their system to make it quicker and more efficient.
ASGHAR MAHMOOD,
Islamabad, February 23.