Will the plan work?

By Sandeep Dikshit

NEW DELHI, DEC. 8. Will the threat of inducting the Army Postal Service (APS) to replace the striking postal staff do the trick? Senior postal department officers as well as federation leaders feel the Government's threat will not make any difference.

No doubt those manning the APS are primarily postal workers on deputation and are therefore familiar with the functioning of the postal department. But they are very few in number to make up for the six lakh striking employees. Also, the APS staff are not posted uniformly all over the country. APS personnel are usually posted in the metros and places like Jammu and Kashmir the North- East where Army presence is considerable.

``Even if they are more committed, disciplined and better professionals, how many forts can they hold? They are present only in some important places and can take care of operations in the surrounding areas only,'' said a senior postal official. They would be able to handle work in key cities like Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai. And that would not suffice.

Sounding confident, federation leaders point out that the Government would try to use APS cadres to create an impression that the business was as usual. ``But would they be able to deliver the mail?,'' asked a federation leader. Bihar alone receives money orders worth over Rs. 750 crores annually. ``These can only be distributed by ED agents. The Army cannot do anything,'' another leader said.

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