KARACHI, Feb 5: The Pakistan Post Office will soon receive 160 motorcycles from the Universal Postal Union.
Well-placed sources told Dawn on Wednesday that apart from other third-world countries, Pakistan had also requested the international postal organization to give it motorcycles so that some beats — areas covered by postmen — could be motorized.
At present, no postman in Karachi has been given a cycle, let alone a motorcycle, by the Pakistan Post Office. The postmen receive Rs60 as a cycle allowance every month if they own a cycle. In addition, the Pakistan Post Office recruits only those candidates as postmen who know how to ride a cycle.
The Sindh postmaster general, Mohammad Ahmed, told Dawn that the Universal Postal Union would give the Pakistan Post Office 160 motorcycles. He added that the motorcycles would be insured and the postmen using the motorcycles would be given a maintenance allowance for the upkeep of the vehicles. He hoped that the motorcycles would enable the postmen to make the delivery system of the Pakistan Post Office very fast and reliable.
The deputy postmaster general, Fazli Sattar Khan, explained that under another scheme the Pakistan Post Office might give motorcycles to postmen.
He said: “As implemented in Islamabad, Lahore and Peshawar, the scheme envisages the transfer of motorcycles’ ownership to the postmen over a certain period of time. A certain amount of money would be deducted from the salary of the postman on a monthly basis. In a period of six to seven years, the postmen would own the motorcycle given to him.” He added that the Pakistan Post Office would also give a petrol allowance to the postmen who get the motorcycles.
The divisional superintendent of the postal services, Karachi, Sherin Zaman, told Dawn that the Pakistan Post Office had made a plan to combine postal beats in such a way that the motorcycles proved to be of maximum utility. “New localities — such as Gulistan-i-Jauhar, and the stretch of land from Sohrab Goth to Donba Goth — will be single beats. But in areas like New Town, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Orangi, North Nazimabad the Pakistan Post Office has combined beats,” he said.
Mr Zaman explained that a postman with a motorcycle would be of little utility in areas like Tower and I.I Chundrigar Road. ”Highrises dot the landscape of these areas and a conventional postman with a bicycle would be of as utility as a postman with a motorcycle.”
He said that previously under Pakistan Post Office rules a postman had to cover a distance of at least 10 miles every day. ”But the distance was reduced to seven miles afterwards. In reality, however, a postman covers a distance of 12 to 16 kilometres on average,” he said.
