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GPO 'special arrangements' disappointing

KARACHI: It appears that the 'special arrangements' that have been made at the General Post Office (GPO) Karachi are not sufficient to resolve the 'problems' being faced by the people who come to post either Eid cards or sent money orders.

A great rush was witnessed at the two counters at the GPO on Monday.

The GPO Karachi has set up four 'special counters' and installed four franking machines but apparently of little avail as the staff there was neither attending nor asking the people to go to other counters. Such an approach on the part of postal staff was simply not understandable. No senior official of the GPO was available to monitor the situation or to see whether the 'special arrangements' were of any benefit for the general public who still were facing inconvenience like they face during the normal functioning of the GPO Karachi or, for that matter, any other post office in Karachi.

One thing was very obvious that no official was specially deputed at GPO Karachi to guide the people as to which counter they should go for availing the 'special arrangements.'

A long queue was witnessed at the money order counter. No one was manning the counter that was marked as 'fax money order.'

The GPO staff appeared more interested in observing the "break" from 1:00 p.m. to 2.30 p.m. instead of attending to the public.

People thronging the local post offices expressing their distress cited the so called break unnecessary. They said that during the month of Ramazan and especially in view of the rush as Eid-ul-Fitr is fast approaching, there appeared no reason for observing such a break and instead the GPO Karachi should work for longer hours.

They also opined that the stress should not merely be on the timings but on how to serve the people, attend them properly and to ensure that they face no difficulty in posting their letters and Eid cards and sending money orders etc. APP