KARACHI, Oct 15: The Pakistan Post Office has increased the salaries of postmen.

The Sindh postmaster-general, Mohammad Ahmad Mian, told Dawn on Wednesday that the average monthly salary of a postman working in BPS-5 was Rs4,700. He added that postmen also received a house requisitioning allowance of Rs1,800.

At least 900 postmen are working in Karachi.

Previously, the PPO paid less than Rs2,500 to a postman. For under-matric postmen the salary package used to begin from Rs1,360 and rise to Rs2,230 in 15 years. For matric postmen the salary package used to begin from Rs1,400 and rise to Rs2,300 in 15 years.

Mr Mian recalled that in August the federal minister for communication gave 160 motorcycles and mobile phones to the postmen working in the Karachi circle.

The motorcycles and mobile phones were provided by the Universal Postal Union.

The Sindh postmaster general explained that the cost of the motorbikes had been 50 per cent subsidized.

“The postmen would have to pay a total of Rs19,000 over a period of five years. This works out to an instalment of Rs300 per month. The postmen who have been given motorcycles will be able to cover at least 83 per cent of the entire postal area of the city,” he said.

PPO officials told Dawn that postmen also received Re1 for each national identity card made by the National Database Registration Authority they distributed. They added that the postmen also received Rs0.75 for each telephone bill they distributed.

They said the postal department provided postmen with a medical allowance of Rs270 or thereabouts. “Since the postal department already gives a medical allowance to postmen, it is not supposed to set up medical centres for them. All the same, a medical centre is being established in North Nazimabad where postal officials will be given free treatment,” they said.

The PPO officials said that every six months the postal department gave two pairs of uniforms to postmen.

They said the postal department had recently informed the city Nazim, Naimatullah Khan, that a large number of PPO officials had been doing without government residence for the past 13 years because the Sindh government had failed to vacate their apartments illegally occupied by squatters.

They added that the PPO had written to the Sindh home secretary in December last year asking him to vacate 36 apartments in Shadman Town occupied by squatters.

However, some postmen that spoke to were not very happy with the steps taken by the authorities. Postmen working in Federal B. Area told Dawn that though their job required a lot of running around, they did not receive a travelling allowance.

They added that they were entrusted with the job of distributing telephone bills — 400,000 or thereabouts — despite the fact that their strength was not so much as to perform the task properly.

The postmen said that despite the fact that other courier agencies authorized to distribute telephone bills were paid less by the Pakistan Telecommunication Company, their delivery staff were given a better salary package, as well as a travelling allowance.

They added that every day the postmen handled 170,000 postal traffic — letters, parcels, periodicals, etc — and their salaries were not in proportion with the workload.