Communications failure

The postal strike that the nation is having to suffer need never have been called, had the Union Communications Minister been a little circumspect about her communications. She should have considered a complete wage package instead of announcing hikes for postmen and mail-guards in a hurry and then claiming to be looking into the needs of the other employees only after they started making threatening noises. Besides, she should have taken the employees into her confidence on the Talwar Committee report which is to be implemented. It is doubtful if there is a precedent to this, where policy changes have gone into the implementation phase without the people affected getting to know about their specifics. This communications failure contributed in great measure to the strike. But the postal employees are just as culpable as their minister. The threat to strike work alone would have spurred the ministry to action. There was no immediate need to make good their word. They would have been wiser to wait for a decentinterval to allow the government to consider their demands. In the case of essential services, negotiations are always a better option than confrontation.

Of course, the government, too, should have moved on the issue with suitable despatch. The postal department, like the Railways, is one of the few arms of the government which actually get the job done, and is therefore deserving of attention. The failure of the courier companies to get a large market share indicates the fundamental strength of the department. Despite the legends of mail arriving a quarter of a century late, long after both sender and recipient have moved on to a higher plane of existence, the fact remains that the posts are more or less reliable. Given the fact that the tariffs are far lower than they are in most countries, this is no mean achievement. In a country where most people cannot afford to spend too much on communications, it is a service of paramount importance. The position that the village postmaster enjoys, on par with thevillage schoolmaster, shows how central his services are to the life of the common man. If he has reasonable demands, it is imperative for the government to be sympathetic to them.

Given the fact that the government is thinking of reducing expenses, it should also have given due attention to the problem of extra-departmental agents long ago. This is not to suggest that they should all be made permanent employees, as the previous minister for Railways chose to do for his casual staff. A department where everyone operates at half their efficiency is likely to be a breeding ground for even more trouble. But surely they could have been encouraged to seek other employment opportunities. The postal department is in a crisis today because succeeding governments have been lulled by its quiet efficiency into believing that it can be safely ignored. The only major experiment attempted there in recent times was rather cosmetic: setting up stationery shops in post offices. The government should realise that thedepartment is an untapped resource, a backbone on which a highly-competitive communications enterprise can be erected. Unfortunately, vision is at a premium in the Communications ministry.