Minphong Konyak
Dimapur | August 20
Mon Town, which is one of the biggest towns in Nagaland with a population of about 15,000, has only a single mail outlet and no mail van as well due to which public cannot get proper facilities as far as postal services is concerned. The total staff-strength is just nine including the Postmaster, Hangshing, for such a big area. In an interview, he said that the office had always used NST buses due to lack of official transport services (for mail).
However, fortunately under SC Jamir, the then Chief Minister of Nagaland, the Mon Post office received the extremely needed Mail Van (a Tata Sumo No NL-11/0836) in 2002 which conducted daily service from Mon to Sonari. But it vanished in August 2004 after two years of service. On been queried, Hangshing informed that the Director, Postal Service Kohima had asked the Postmaster to return the Van since it had “incurred heavy expenditure to the Department due to bad road”.
But now that the Mon-Sonari road is fine and still there is no sign of the Mail Van even after repeated appeals from the office and the Konyak Students Union (KSU) as well. Since then the post office has resumed using NST bus service and private night super buses to Dimapur which, of course, is not as efficient as it could be, creating delays especially in speed postal service. Yet then there still is no word from Kohima.
Besides it is reported that land encroachment is eating up the office boundary and though till date there has been no incident of theft or robbery at the office, the boundary walls and fence is in need of immediate repair. And although in the age of mobile phones now, it is observed that to cover the whole of Mon town for services like money order and parcels with convenience and efficiency is difficult especially at Mission Compound. The KSU felt that “it is determined to get back the Mail Van which was wrongly taken away”.
Morung Express News
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