Postal service

In our good old days we had “Dak-horkoras” and there were “Dak-bunglows”. In the distant past, messages were communicated through pigeons and horsebacks. As kids we have seen the postman (Dak-Peon) knocking at our wooden doors by ringing the iron bell when a letter used to arrive. It was indeed a sweet experience and one could instantly recognise the sender by looking at the handwriting. Letter writing was an art, which of late has become extinct. I wonder if those radio bond letter writing papers, faintly blue in colour, are still available. The fact is that one gets nostalgic.
But, Sir, that's not the issue. We must admire our postal department, in spite of hundreds of complaints, constraints and frustrations. Postal network encompasses every nook and cranny of the country; although delays and losses are there, but even then the system works. They have dispatched millions and millions of taka by money order, greeting cards, official and private letters and parcels. They have been issuing commemorative stamps on various national and international occasions. What a sweet experience it is to stand in a queue for the “first day covers”. And probably stamp collection is the “king of hobbies”. The postal department has other responsibilities also including postal deposit schemes, collection of MV taxes, distribution of textbooks and probably many others.
Now, time has changed. People rely on fax, SMS, couriers, and e-mails all in one palm. So it is natural to think that the flow of letters and telegrams will soon reach a level, which may be labelled as negligible. In the light of the above, I humbly suggest that all the post offices in the country be equipped with email, SMS, fax and electronic money transfer services/facilities.
I would humbly suggest also that the postal and telegraphic facilities be integrated at the district and thana levels to provide coordinated “One stop service”/ facilities. Otherwise, these two huge organisations with countrywide network built with taxpayers' money will remain maximally under-utilized.