Dear Comrades,
MANGALORE: Though the strike called by employees of India Security Press (ISP), Nasik, ended mid-April, the repercussions are still felt all over India. The strike sparked a postal stamp crisis, and the Bangalore Circle Stamp Depot (CSD) which supplies stamps of all denominations to 59 head post offices in the state, is all at sea due to the shortage.
A top official in CSD told TOI: "The ISP sends us stamps for three months based on indent. Now, the backlog is adding up. Due to the strike, the ISP is printing stamps of one denomination at a time and we are not getting stamps of all values. We may get Rs 3 and Rs 4 denomination stamps anytime now. Since ISP is functioning now, the crisis should blow over by mid-June."
Though the problem was severe in Mangalore division, it is eased by the officials' proactive measures. Mangalore Senior Superintendent of Post Offices Chandra Sekhar Kakumanu admitted there was a crisis a month ago, but it was sorted out to some extent. "We've deployed franking machines at 20 of the 30 sub post offices and also received Rs 7 lakh worth of stamps of all denominations, barring Rs 4. We also released the philately stock of Rs 5 denomination to overcome the crisis," he said.
A senior official in Puttur said: "We have stamps of only small denomination, like 25 paise and 50 paise. There is no stock of Re 1, 2, 3 or 4 denomination. We received some stock of Rs 5 denomination stamps on Wednesday."A post office personnel in Pandeshwar said: "Earlier, franking machines were used only for bulk orders. Now we use them even for less than 100 letters, sometimes even 10 letters if customers prefer it.
A top official in CSD told TOI: "The ISP sends us stamps for three months based on indent. Now, the backlog is adding up. Due to the strike, the ISP is printing stamps of one denomination at a time and we are not getting stamps of all values. We may get Rs 3 and Rs 4 denomination stamps anytime now. Since ISP is functioning now, the crisis should blow over by mid-June."
Though the problem was severe in Mangalore division, it is eased by the officials' proactive measures. Mangalore Senior Superintendent of Post Offices Chandra Sekhar Kakumanu admitted there was a crisis a month ago, but it was sorted out to some extent. "We've deployed franking machines at 20 of the 30 sub post offices and also received Rs 7 lakh worth of stamps of all denominations, barring Rs 4. We also released the philately stock of Rs 5 denomination to overcome the crisis," he said.
A senior official in Puttur said: "We have stamps of only small denomination, like 25 paise and 50 paise. There is no stock of Re 1, 2, 3 or 4 denomination. We received some stock of Rs 5 denomination stamps on Wednesday."A post office personnel in Pandeshwar said: "Earlier, franking machines were used only for bulk orders. Now we use them even for less than 100 letters, sometimes even 10 letters if customers prefer it.
Times of India
