There were more negatives and positives reflected on the workings of the Postal Department when Minister of Posts and Telecommunication Mahinda Wijesekera rose to speak at a recent function.
Minister Wijesekera, at last week’s launch of the Western Union Money Transfer Service by Western Union Company in association with the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, across its Post Offices, said he wasn’t happy with the operations of the Postal Department and said its income earning units – the Telecommunications section and the Savings Account section - have been removed from the department.
He said that though his Ministry is called the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, he was left with only the loss making, inefficient postal section only. Mr Wijesekera said that though they have 4,825 post offices with a workforce of around 23,000 workers and active trade unions they were depending on the Treasury funds. Each year the Treasury supports the department with a massive Rs 3,000 million and it has been so funding for the last 10 years.
He said that they are working on getting back the Savings Accounts section and there are positive signs in this context. Though the department has launched this money transfer scheme with a private sector organization, Mr Wijesekera assured that it is not the first step to privatize the department, although all in all he showed an inclination of running the postal department like a private sector institution.
He said that the Postal Department was inefficient and there were many a complaints of pilfering and delays and noted that people are using private sector agencies to get the services of telephone calls and other services, rather than using post offices for this purpose. He said that private sector institutions are equipped with modern technology, whereas the Postal Department is lagging behind.
Ratheesh Kumar, Country Director, Southern & Eastern India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives, Western Union Financial Services, said that money transfers could be effected within 10 minutes through their money transfer system and is a formal transfer system.
He said that they are present in Sri Lanka since 1994 and have been operating through various financial agencies since then. They would start with 367 main post offices initially and it would then add up to 3400 locations covering all the potential distrcts to pay by the Western Union Money Transfer system.
Mr Kumar said that they are competitive and the rates are computed considering the affordability of the common man who earns in other countries and send their money to the loved ones in Sri Lanka. With the expansive global network they are uniquely positioned to deliver fast and reliable to its customers across more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. |
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