ISLAMABAD, Aug 30: The Senate Standing Committee on Communications on Monday stressed upon the Pakistan Post Office (PPO) to devise a mechanism to improve mail delivery system to help enhance its credibility among the people.
Presided over by its chairman Senator Kamil Ali Agha, the standing committee meeting was held here at the Parliament House. The committee was briefed on the organizational setup and working mechanism of the attached departments of the ministry of communications.
The director-general of Pakistan Post Office, Maj-Gen (retired) Aga Masood Hasan, gave a briefing about the mission, organizational structure, function, restructuring plan 2001-04 and achievements of the PPO.
The committee recommended that the PPO should be allowed to renew arms and driving licenses with delayed fees and ensure availability of all kinds of postal stamps to avoid inconvenience to the people. The meeting also recommended that post offices should be allowed to sell Behbood Certificates of National Savings to facilitate the common man.
The committee was of the view that the PPO, through advertisements and marketing, should inform the people about its services. The meeting was informed that the PPO was providing postal services in every nook and corner of the country through a network of more than 12,000 post offices.
It is providing delivery services to about 20 million households and business outlets as community service without any cost consideration for socio-economic development of the country.
In a rapidly evolving and increasingly competitive environment, the PPO has also taken strides to provide faster and cost-effective delivery system by introducing express mail services like Urgent Mail Service, Air Express, International Speed Post, Fax Mail and Fax Money Order Service.
The committee was told that as a result of reform process and reorganization of the PPO, there had been remarkable improvement in its performance. It has generated financial resource to the tune of Rs4.5 billion and has become financially self-sufficient.
The PPO director-general told the committee about the measures taken for re-organization, computerization and diversification of the department. The committee was also briefed on the human resource and infrastructure development, and improvement of services in the post offices.
The DG said his department was committed to providing better services to the people, and that village postmen were being provided motorcycles and rickshaws to ensure speedy delivery of mail.
The members of the committee also asked a number of questions pertaining to the performance of the PPO and put forward different proposals aimed at improving the quality of its services particularly in rural areas.
During the meeting, the representative of the National Transport Research Centre also briefed the committee on the organizational setup, working, functions and achievements of the centre.
The committee was informed that the centre had completed 265 studies in different modes of transport, including roads, road transport, railings, ports, shipping, civil aviation etc.
Senator Kamil Ali Agha asked the officials of the centre to prepare a comprehensive report on the needs of the centre making it more effective. The committee will discuss the requirements of the centre in its next meeting.
During the meeting, the representatives of the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) also gave a briefing on the incident of grounding of Maltese Oil Tanker "Tasman Spirit," on July 27, 2003.
The committee was briefed on the operational details and other related issues like claims and compensation and the steps taken by the KPT to control marine pollution. The committee appreciated the fact that during the crisis, not a single operation of the KPT was suspended.
