National 5 (Spotlight Weekly)

Disruption Of Mail

By KESHAB POUDEL

Among various sectors of Nepalese society thrown off the track due to raging Maoist insurgency, postal service is one. Following the disruptions of the postal service by the Maoists, Nepal’s more than five million people - who are living in the remote rural parts of the country are denied access to postal service - which is still the only way to maintain personal communication with relatives and friends working overseas for them.

According to the Department of Postal Services, the Himalayan Kingdom’s 3992 post offices including 1 General Post Office, 5 Regional Post Offices, 70 District Post Offices, 842 Area Post Offices and 3074 Sub Post Offices are providing mail service to 23 million population of Nepal.

With the intensification of Maoist insurgency, postal service has become one of the worst affected sectors along with transport and communications. The Maoists have already bombed 550 post office buildings across the country and locked more than 1000 post offices. After the Maoist threat, Nepal’s more than 2,000 postmen – who are assigned to deliver the letters in the rural areas – have confined themselves to the district headquarters and the vicinity fearing to venture out into the rural villages.

Since the mountains and hills cover more than 80 percent of Nepalese territory, only a small proportion of mail can be delivered by bus and airplane - that is up to district headquarters and places with airfield and transport access. Remaining mails have to be delivered by runner postmen- who carries mail from one destination to another. As Maoists have already destroyed many suspension bridges – which often are the only infrastructures that link outlying villages with district headquarters - postmen have to travel through different trekking trails. Many times the Maoist destroy the suspension bridges claiming that the army uses it to enter into villages.

Among five development regions, postal services in the mid-western region are the worst affected by the Maoist insurgency. Out of 75 districts, 15 districts are in the mid-western region, which has total population of 3.1 million. In this region alone, around 2 million population have their access to postal service obstructed. “Because of the Maoist threat, out of 446 Sub Post Offices only 150 are functioning and out of 129, only 45 area post offices are operating at present,” said Dinanath Lamsal, Regional Director of Regional Post Office Surkhet, 450 miles west of capital. “Delivering letters have become a very difficult job since Maoists frequently confiscate letters and other mails being carried by our postmen.”

In the mid-western region, most of the district headquarters even do not have road link. Airplanes bring in the mails up to these district headquarters and the runner postmen are the only option to distribute letters to families and friends.

“Our postmen are not in a position to deliver the letter (sent by their relatives) to a large number of concerned people living in the rural parts of the country,” said Lamsal. Because of closure of the service in the remote parts of the country, people have to trek for a couple of days to send and receive the letters from the post offices in headquarters and urban centers.

In the last eight years of insurgency, the Maoists have physically attacked more than half a dozen of postmen. According to the Department of Postal Services, a couple of postmen have already been killed and some others have incurred serious injuries.

“With the disruption on the mobility of postmen, the government is now delivering the letters through mobile service,” said Mukunda Prasad Acharya, spokesman of Ministry of Information and Communication.

A few weeks ago, the Maoists abducted postman Singh Bahadur Shrestha and confiscated letters in Nambe VDC in Solukhmbu District, 300 miles east of Capital. “They asked me not to carry the mail next time and warned me not to come to the village,” Shrestha said. Shrestha was carrying 10 letters coming from foreign countries and 8 local letters.

Similarly, the Maoists locked up the post office in Salleri village of Rukum district, 400 miles west of capital confiscating letters and destroying the stamps. Maoists consider that postal services can be used to accumulate their information and secrecy.

In a country where total internet users are estimated to be less than 300,000 - and most of them are confined to urban areas - the disruption in the postal service is hampering the communication method of rural population.

“I have not sent any letters to my parents for the last one and a half years since mail delivery system has virtually disrupted,” said Sagun Singh, a resident of Kalikot 450 miles west of capital living in capital.

Balbir Rai, an army man, from Udayapur of Khotang district, 400 mile east of capital, too has similar problems as he has not received any letters for past six months from his family members living in his remote home town. “I have to rely on my visiting relatives to know whereabouts of my family,” Rai said.

Eastern Region Administrative Office recently revealed that more than 100 post office buildings were destroyed in the region – which has low intensification of Maoist activities compared to far-west and mid-west region.

Thanks to the breakdown of the postal services, the postal delivery has become a very lengthy process. It takes month to deliver the letter from within a district. A letter sent by District Industry Office took three months just to travel to another local office in same district of Parbat, 200 miles west of capital.

“We are not in a position to deliver the mail to the villages,” said Lamsal. “As a result we just keep the letters and mails in the district headquarters.”

From personal letters to official mails, the disruptions in postal services have large scale implications. Thanks to difficulties in mailing service, the results of School Leaving Certificate (SLC) was delayed for a month.

Along with facing physical destruction and disruption in postal delivery, the frequent general strikes and economic blockades called by the Maoists are adding other burdens in mail delivery.

“Amid present uncertainty, one cannot predict the normal delivery period. As long as the situation remains abnormal, I don’t see any possibility to rehabilitation of mail service,” said Rajendra Sharma, senior officer at the Department of Postal Services.