The Hindu : Kerala News : Postal staff oppose plan to stop subsidy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 10, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Kerala

Kerala

Postal staff oppose plan to stop subsidy

Staff Reporter

‘No subsidy from March 31’

Deplore Railways’ decision to hike rent of mail vans
They fear Postal Department will be privatised

KASARAGOD: The move of the Union government to discontinue the subsidy of Rs.1,000 crore being given to the Postal Department will cripple the functioning of the department, says leaders of the National Federation of Postal Employees (NFPE).

At a press conference here on Saturday, prior to the State conference of NFPE to be held here in April, P. Karunakaran, MP, who is the chairman of the reception committee, and P.V. Rajendran, general convener, said the government would stop providing subsidy from March 31.

They alleged that the step was part of a move to convert the department into a business firm, which would affect the common man.

In another move which would cripple the Postal Department, Indian Railways had decided to increase the rent of mail vans being used by the department by 300 to 500 per cent, Mr. Rajendran. The Railways had also decided to rename Railway Mail Service (RMS) as Mail Business Arm, he said.

Licences

Moreover, the Union government was planning to provide licences to franchisees from the private sector to open branches, Mr. Rajendran said. He expressed the apprehension that the steps of the government would eventually lead to privatisation of the Postal Department.

If the government went forward with the moves, the mail sector would be dominated by big multinational companies and many services would become inaccessible to the common man, he said.

The State conference of the union which would be held at Kasaragod on April 17, 18 and 19 would discuss all the developments in the Postal Department.

Several art and cultural programmes and discussions would be held prior to the conference, they said.

A poster creation camp would be held at K.G. Bose Library here on February 10. An arts festival would be held on February 24. Four seminars would be held at different centres in the district in March.

Experts from various fields and national and state leaders would participate in the seminars, they said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Kerala