India - Postmen protest against unfair working conditions

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RANCHI: Postmen in the city are protesting under the banner All India Postal Employees Union (AIPEU). As part of the national protest they have several demands but on Tuesday the Ranchi postmen distributed letters wearing half pants and vests because they feel they are not provided proper uniform, shoes and umbrella.

"We are given poor quality uniform. As a mark of protest we decided to distribute letters without wearing the uniform," provincial secretary of AIPEU, Ravindra Dev Singh said, adding that Tuesday was the fifth day of their protest. Earlier, they protested at the post office on June 18, 20 and 22 and went on a hunger strike on July 9."

With several other demands the union is now threatening to go on an indefinite strike. About their other demands Singh said, "Our first demand is that the beat, the area covered by every postman, should be redistributed. The beats were distributed many years ago. Earlier, where there were single storied houses now there are multi-storied buildings. So we want proper redistribution of beats so that one postman doesn't have to do too much work."

"We also want that new recruits to be taken as many have retired or died during their term," he added.

Other demands of the union include revision of departmental examination syllabus and allowing postmen to skip data entry.

Singh said if the government does not give in to their demands they will intensify their protest.

About their future course of action Singh said, "If our demands are not fulfilled we will give a notice on August 17 to the circle working committee members and postal department secretary making our demands clear. We will also go on an indefinite strike from September 16."