The federal government has given approval for setting up a high powered management board for Pakistan Post to tone up efficiency of postal services, it was officially learnt here on Thursday. The director general of Pakistan Post will be the chairman of the board, sources added.
Sources said the postal department needed financial autonomy because of increasing competition from private operators in the field. "The customers' expectations and technological advances have created enormous challenges for Pakistan Post which necessitated the setting up of the board," sources said.
Talking about the steps already in place to improve the postal efficiency, a top official said a new mail routing and circulation system by the name of "District Wise Sorting System" had been introduced.
"This has replaced the old system mostly dependent on railways network and inherited from the time of independence," the official added. In view of the improved road conditions, Pakistan Post Office had introduced "Pakistan State Mail" service on important routes exclusively, source said.
"This has curtailed the transit time and consequently early delivery of mail at destinations is possible," the official added. Previously, only express post articles were delivered through 'motorised delivery' but now ordinary mail is also distributed through this facility in Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar.
In this regard 200 motorcycles have been distributed amongst postmen of various cities like Abbottabad, Gujranwala, Jhelum, Multan, Sukkur, Faisalabad, Hyderabad and Kohat, official said. For prompt disposal of postal customers' complaints, 292 motorcycles have been provided to field staff for surprise visits and checks on the performance of post offices and delivery staff.
Replying to a question about the computerisation of the postal services, the official said a project of computerisation of District Mail Offices is under implementation phase. "It has already been done at major post offices in large towns and cities which has helped us in reducing the paper work," he added. International Postal System (IPS-96) has been installed in EMS office of Karachi exchange to track and trace the postal items, he added.
"A computerised tracking system has also been installed at 11 major cities in the country. The network will be expanded to other town too." To facilitate remittances to home from expatriates, an agreement has been signed with Western Union, which is world's leading money transfer company. He said to facilitate the customers, 'greeters' have been introduced in general post offices on daily basis whose duty is to attend and guide the customers.