Jalpaiguri: In the age of quick e-commerce delivery and snap shopping, this British-era post office in North Bengal struggles to cater to the people with a single woman running the show ambidextrously as a postmaster and a runner.
‘The runner is passing that’s why the bells are chiming at night’— the opening line of the poem ‘Runner’ by iconic Bengali poet Sukanta Bhattacharya still reverberates in the hills of Buxa, a postcard tourist town in Alipurduar district of North Bengal.
Srijana Thapa, a woman runner of the postal department, balances equally with managing the post office and delivering mail and consignments at the doorsteps.
It’s hard to believe but true that in the age of email and WhatsApp, the post office has no electricity connection. Though it has been connected to the internet to expedite work, the patchy networks often belie the aim as the customers have to go downhill to Rajabhatkhawa Post Office for withdrawal, deposit and other purposes. The situation has become a hornet’s net for the Postmaster.
Thapa collects letters from the Rajabhatkhawa Post Office thrice a week- on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. She commutes to Santalabari in a bus, then walks three kilometres to reach Bakshaduar. She delivers the letters and other consignments to 11 villages- Sadar Bazar, Lepcha Basti, 28 Basti, 29 Basti, Adma, Chunavati, Santlabari, Tasigaon, Buxa Fort, Daragaon, Khatling and Phulbari. In the age of globalisation, Thapa still stands tall on her own feet with hardships.
The Bakshaduar Branch Post Office was set up 124 years ago when the colonial masters were still brainstorming over the tacking of revolutionary activities in the lengths and breadths of West Bengal. It still has the weighing scale and weights of the colonial era but the lustre is gone with the departure of the British. The post office is on the verge of closure due to a lack of maintenance and staff.
Till 1942, the Britishers used to connect with Dooars through this post office. After Independence, this office is still catering sincerely to the people with poor infrastructure and manpower. As most of the work here is done offline, Thapa, who is a temporary staff, has to work extra time aside from the delivery.
Chiring Bhutia was the last permanent staff in the post office who died a decade back. His son, Pashang Bhutia, worked as a temporary postman or runner. But he was sacked for demanding to be made a permanent staff and one Shankar Mandal was assigned the task. After Shankar left, one Shibu Das works as the postman for three days a week and the rest of the days are managed by Thapa.
“The post office is running in a dire situation. All offices have been connected to the internet and all works are done online. So the deposit and withdrawal services are not available in this post office. Despite having a temporary runner, I have to manage the works of a postmaster and a postman parallelly. If this continues, it won’t be long before the office ceases to operate,” Thapa said.
“I was born in Buxa Hills. So despite adversaries, I have to come to the office by trekking for nearly six kilometres. It’s challenging and risky to deliver articles in 11 villages navigating the mountainous terrain,” She added.
Arup Thapa, a resident, said earlier all work used to be done offline. But after the digital connectivity, deposit and withdrawal works have slowed down here.
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