The Post Office of India and Its StoryClarke, Geoffrey
History
The Post Office of India and Its Story
Clarke, Geoffrey
Postal service -- India
In the matter of slow delivery, however, the public are more
frequently to blame for delays than the postman, especially in the
case of articles which have to be signed for. Parcels, money orders
or registered letters are taken at the door by a servant and, if the
sahib is at his bath or busy, there is a long and tedious wait before
the signed receipts are brought back. It is extraordinary how callous
people are in this respect towards the interests of the Post Office
and their own neighbours, while they are always ready to complain if
the smallest delay or mistake occurs to any articles for themselves.
It can be easily understood that where such conditions prevail, and
that is all over India, fast delivery is impossible, and the very best
regulations for getting the men quickly to their beats are useless when
they are detained unnecessarily at every house.
[Illustration: COMBINED PASSENGER AND MAIL MOTOR VAN. KANGRA VALLEY
SERVICE]
In India most money orders are paid at the door by postmen, and in
towns, where there are large payments to be made, special sets of
postmen are employed for the purpose. The rules regarding the payment
of money orders are very strict and, when the payees are not well-known
persons, identification by a respectable resident is insisted upon.
In large pilgrim resorts, like Benares, where the pilgrims are
continually getting remittances and are necessarily unknown, there is
a special class of professional identifiers, consisting chiefly of the
innkeepers. These men for a small fee are always ready to swear to
the identity of any pilgrim for whom a money order has arrived, and,
strange to say, they are often ready to pay up if it is found that
their identification was incorrect and that the money was paid to the
wrong person, a not unfrequent occurrence.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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