Customers cry foul as two post offices closed

Amritsar : Customers of the Department of Posts alleged inconvenience as two of its branches were closed recently.The department shut down its branches at Kot Ralia Ram and at Rani Ka Bazar recently. This led to resentment among the customers as they now have to walk down an extra mile, negotiate with traffic snarls and brave long queues to receive the same old services. A senior citizen Naresh Johar, while slamming the department, said private courier companies were working towards providing services at the doorsteps of customers. The government department, however, is squandering away the advantage that it has in the form of infrastructure in every nook and corner of the city. Amandeep Kaur, a housewife, said there were numerous advantages of the Rani Ka Bagh post office due to its strategic location. Since the area was mainly residential, with ample wide roads, it was easy to walk down to the post office. The residents of the area now have to negotiate traffic snarls to reach the busy Court Road to reach the General Post Office (GPO). Long queues and parking problems are other great handicaps which discourage customers from enjoying smooth services. When contacted, Superintendent Post Office (HQ) MS Negi said as per the department rules issued about three years ago, all the offices situated within a distance of two km from each other were to be closed. He said both the closed branches fell under this category. He agreed that there was no economic problem as both the branches were doing good business. When asked about the serpentine queues which will ensue at the GPO, he said ample arrangements of opening more windows had been made to meet the increased rush of customers. He said the Department of Posts had closed two branches at Islamabad and Naraingarh, under the same revised plan last year. He said keeping in view the convenience of customers, the branches were being closed gradually.