JOIN USThe busy postman works on....
Carrying a load of letters on his bicycle and travelling from place to place, a postman is a metaphoric symbol of kinetic energy in society.
‘Cyclical’ activity
H K Ramesh, a resident of Hanumantapura village, is one such active postman.
He is the postmaster at Kundalagurki village in the taluk. However, his work involves much more than that officially assigned to a postmaster- receipt of letters, stamping them, sending them, and even handing them over to the addressee. In addition, he has to take care of covers, cards, stamps, savings accounts, money orders, registered posts, et cetera too.
His work area includes Kundalagurki, Doddadasenahalli, Chikkadasenahalli, Chikkapapanahalli, Basavanaparti, Gollahalli, Siddapura, Gangapura and Ropparlahalli.
He receives the letters at the Shidlaghatta office every morning and goes to Kundalagurki. From here, he travels on his bicycle to reach the letters to their respective destinations to every village within the range of 10 kilometres.
Experiences
“I joined this work in 1986 with an agreement of Rs 300 as my compensation. Now, I am paid Rs 3,000. Since I have been appointed on a temporary basis, I get no other facility. Several protests have been organised many times all over the country for better facilities, but to no avail.
“But, regardless of the facilities, I just continue with my work,” said Ramesh, speaking to Deccan Herald.
Ramesh speaks of certain incidents that are part of his experience in the field.
“Shashikala and Manjunath of Doddadasenahalli had a registered post. After receiving the post in the afternoon, I could reach them only by evening. They had interviews the very next day.
“Both work as transport managers now. Whenever we meet, they wish me. Such happiness on the faces of people gives me satisfaction,” Ramesh says.
It takes almost the whole day to travel the area of 10 km range and reach the letters. It is evening by the time the work is done, he says.
“Sometimes, there is a tyre-puncture. Sometimes, there is some other problem. But all these are soon rectified and I continue with my work,”he adds, saying, “It is better late than never. We always try our best to reach the letters on that very day.”
Help
Nagabhushan of Hanumantapur says, if the bus that goes to the villages is missed, people have to go on foot. It is saddening to watch their plight. “The Government should provide facilities to give such people employment in the post office.”