| 4 October 2006 |
India’s postmen struggle to adapt
The Asian Wall Street Journal – October 4, 2006
India’s postmen struggle to adapt: Unable to downsize as private carriers grow, state tries to diversify - When Mumbai Region Postmaster General A.P.Srivastava joined the postal system 27 years ago, mailmen routinely hired extra labourers to help carry bulging gunny sacks of letters they took all day to deliver. Today private sector couriers such as FedEx Corp. and the United Parcel Service Inc., both of the U.S. have grabbed more tan half the delivery business nationwide. That means the city’s thousands of postmen finish their rounds before lunch. Mr. Srivastava who can’t fire excess staffers , spends much of his time cooking up new plans to keep his workers busy. He has ruled out selling onions at Mumbai post offices: too perishable. Instead he is considering marketing hair oil and shampoo.
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