The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Coimbatore News : Now, e-post in matrimonial services

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 10, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore

Now, e-post in matrimonial services

By K. Jeshi

COIMBATORE, AUG. 9. The process of matchmaking can't get any simpler. It's going the e-post way. In a bid to promote e-post services in a big way, the Postal Department has set its eyes on a new set of people, the advertisers in matrimony.

"We want to give a fillip to the e-post services, which is yet to catch the attention of the public. During election time, it was extensively used as a campaign tool but later the response has come down," says Shanthi Nair, Postmaster General, Western Region.

The e-post service was introduced three months ago in Coimbatore to make instant communication a possibility even for people who don't have access to personal computers. Messages were scanned, printed and delivered the same day at a cost of Rs .10 per A4 sheet.

As part of the new initiative to promote e-post services, the Coimbatore Railway Mail Service would pick up the addressees from the matrimonial columns that fall within its jurisdiction, which includes the Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Erode, Salem, Namakkal and Dharmapuri districts.

The Postal Department would serve as a platform between matchmakers and prospective families.

Horoscopes to families

" Marriage bureaus can use e-post to send horoscopes to families and in turn any reply to the query will also be routed through the same channel," she adds.

The services would not be confined only to delivery of identical messages to different addresses as in the case of marriage bureaus but also to individual needs.

Fall in personal mail

The exercise was aimed at taking the message of strength of Postal Department in terms of reach, network and technology to further heights.

Accepting that there was a fall in the personal mail volume by 15 per cent over the last three years, the PMG said the decline was largely due to the advent of modern communication technologies such as Internet and E-mail. But business post had recorded a steady progress.

"In the last two years our corporate mail booking has been growing at 30 to 40 per cent," she adds.

E-post services would boost the service of taking technology to a larger network through the large number of post offices and bridge the bridge the gap between the haves and have-nots in rural areas.

"Not everyone can afford to buy a computer," Shanthi Nair adds.

In the initial phase, the Postal Department would send greeting messages to the matrimonial advertisers wishing them a good alliance.

"The mailer will have a request to match seekers to entrust the delivery of their wedding invitations, once the wedding is finalised, to the Department of Posts for delivery through personalised services of the postman the very same day," says P.P. Armugam, Superintendent of Railway Mail Service, Coimbatore Division.

So, match seekers just get ready to receive the pleasant surprise from the Postal Department that is already on its way.

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