Postal Press Union stages protest

BHUBANESWAR: Members of Postal Printing Press Employees Union on Friday held peaceful protest at their office in Mancheswar over the Centre’s decision to shut down the press. The union’s members pointed out that the press was set-up in 1986 and has been supplying various important forms including, savings bank pass books, postal life insurance forms, receipt books for rural and urban areas and others, to Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. The protestors stated that despite computerisation of the post offices and postal departments, the requirement of printing of various forms at the press still exists.

The Centre was mulling to get the forms printed from private organisation despite having a press of the postal department, the forum alleged. “There are about 146 employees working in the press. We want to request the Prime Minister to cancel the order of closing down the press considering about the employees and their families,” Postal Printing Press Employees Union general secretary Kailash Chandra Sahoo said.
Ministry of Communication, Department of Posts, intimated Chief Postmaster General, Odisha Circle, through a letter in May that the officials have recommended to close the printing press, and not to procure printing papers further for the press.