The postman used to be the only employee whom we used to see as a family member because he was a collaborator in every good and bad news a family received. When there was no internet and television it was the postman who used to be the main source of information for various things like exam results, remittances from family members living in cities or letter of an army man to his wife and children. We used to share our joys and sorrows with the postman. Whenever the family used to get a good news the postman gets mithai or some money as a token of thanks for delivering the news. We all have an image of a postman coming with an old cycle with a jute bag on his shoulders which contained letters and money orders. For the families whose members lived in distant cities to earn money, the postman was the only medium to communicate with them before the age of telephone and internet.
The postmen despite his rigorous work of travelling to distance land with a cycle irrespective of the weather was paid very little. His poverty was very much evident to us in the clothes he used wear and the cycle with which he travelled. Many of us probably did not even had the idea that the postmen was doing a central government job. The jobs of a postman have become less intensive to a large extent after telephone and internet proliferated. But still till date they carry out many official documents for us. In the 70 years of independence the governments of the country cared very little for the hardworking postmen. For a very long time now the postmen have been asking for a pay hike, but their voices made no impact on the deaf ears of the government. But then the Modi government has finally showed compassion for the postmen.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the long-standing demand of around 2.6 lakh rural postmen, known as Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS), by raising the basic pay by over three-fold. “Gramin Dak Sevaks, who are getting Rs 2,295 per month, will get Rs 10,000. Those who are getting Rs 2,745 will get Rs 12,000. GDSs who are paid Rs 4,115 will get Rs 14,500 per month”, said Union Minister Manoj Sinha, briefing the media persons. The decision by the Modi government will increase the minimum wage of a postman to 10,000 per month and maximum to 35,480 per month.Union minister Manoj Sinha said “The face of India Post is changing. We have created parcel directorate and India Post Payments Bank is going to start. In coming days, a separate insurance company will work under postal department. GDSs will be our carriers”. Therefore, although the Modi government has increased the pay but it has increased their working responsibilities too. There are more than 2.6 lakh Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS) in the country who works for around 1.3 lakh rural post offices. GDSs work in shift of 3 hours, 3.5 hours, 4 hours, 4.5 hours and 5 hours and remain in service until the age of 65 years. Earlier, there were 11 slabs which have been reduced to three categories and now there will be two designations only —Branch Post Master (BPM) and assistant branch postmaster (ABPM). Those who are supposed to get Rs 12,000 pay will work in a shift of 4 hours, while level 2 GDS – whose basic pay is increased to Rs 14,500, will have to work for 5 hours.
Though the Modi government has finally given some relief to the postmen but it is still not up to the mark. The amount of Rs 15000 is very low for a person in the middle of their career who is doing such hard work. We hope that if the government comes to power again in 2019 Lok Sabha elections it will further increase the pay scale of the postmen in the country realizing the important role they had played in our lives.