CHITRAL: The people of Chitral have decried the closure of three post offices here, which catered to the needs of over 55,000 people of eight village councils.

Pakistan Post has reportedly closed down three of its 13 post offices in Chitral, insisting that these branches were not running on profit. The closed down branches include Drassun in Upper Chitral, which was established as early as in 1964, and Koghuzi and Ashrait in Lower Chitral.

The residents of the three villages have demanded of the prime minister to take notice of the closure of post offices, which they said played a pivotal role in their lives. They said the postmaster general of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should be asked as to why he had taken such a ‘punitive’ decision.

During a protest meeting held in Drassun area on Monday, the speakers, including village chairman Abdur Rafi and elders Hamid Jalal, Mubarak Shah and others said closure of the facility would create multiple issues for the residents as Pakistan Post was the only available agency here to send and receive letters and other consignments.

They said that thousands of students registered with different universities under the distant learning system would have to discontinue their studies. They said call letters from various public and private sector organisations were always delivered by the Pakistan Post.

The residents said that the British rulers had established a post office in Mastuj town of Upper Chitral in 1896 after annexing Chitral an year earlier due to the significance of the facility and in doing so, they did not consider its profitability as it linked the people with the government.

They alleged that the high-ups of Pakistan Post had taken the arbitrary step of closing down the post offices to conceal their wrongdoings in the recruitment process last year when people from Dir, Swat and Buner districts were appointed to the posts of mail runner and postman.

The residents said the post offices were being closed down in Chitral so the non-local employees could be posted to their home districts.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2024