Bhadrak post offices in poor condition

BHADRAK: At a time when the state government is upgrading its post offices by introducing new age facilities, the branch post offices in rural areas of Bhadrak district are in deplorable condition.
The branch post offices, located at Kiapada and Kumarpur villages under Basudevpur block, are in the same miserable condition as was 10 years ago.
"We have requested the superintendent of Bhadrak district post offices several times to run the post office in a suitable house, but in vain.We know that post office offers a number of facilities and services like savings bank, recurring deposit, money order and registered post, among others, but the diminutive structures have discouraged potential customers from making any transaction there," said Ramakanta Muduli, a resident of Kiapada village.
Many people attributed the deplorable condition to the outdated provision of the government in allotting space for the branch post office. According to the rules mentioned in the manual for the department of posts, space for branch post office should be arranged by the 'gramin dak sevak' branch postmaster.
"When the rule says the branch post master, who gets a basic pay of Rs 2,745, shall provide the house for the post office from his own salary and only a monthly allowance of Rs100 towards the maintenance will be paid to him by the office, then there is a remote chance of running post offices in suitable houses. The government should either provide rent for the post office or construct its own building," said Sanjeev Nayak, a social activist based in Bhadrak.
Sources said condition of most branch post offices in rural areas are more or less the same as those at Kiapada and Kumarpur.
According to official sources at the head post office in Bhadrak , there are as many as 797 branch post offices in the district and they have 5,98,000 accounts with an average monthly opening of over 3,000 accounts. Total deposit made in the post offices in the district in August 2014 was Rs 23.79 crore.
"After receiving complaints from the public, I have sought a report on the suitability of conditions of the Kiapada branch from the assistant superintendent of post offices. I will take appropriate action and as far as revenue generation is concerned, a positive trend is being noticed," said Bisnumohan Dasmohapatra, the superintendent of post offices in Bhadrak.