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NT Bureau
Chennai, Jan 22:

        The pin-code is a moffusil 601 302, and the Post Office at Pallikaranai is a 'rural' Branch Office. And a written message below the stamp counter here, urges the locals to take up Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI) policies. Sited opposite the local Panchayat office, the rented 'shop-space' is open for just three hours in a day from 10am to 1pm. And attempts to upgrade it to a 'No Delivery Sub Office' (NDSO) have met with consistent failure for the past six months.

The Post Office at Pallikaranai.

The shop in which the post office presently functions belongs to the Panchayat. And the Assistant Superintendent of Post Offices, Tambaram had made a formal communication to the Panchayat office, in the last week of July 2006, regarding upgradation. Permission was sought for the upgraded Sub Office to continue its services from the same premises. And the postal department sought a 'letter of willingness' from the Panchayat authorities at the earliest, for proceeding further with the upgradation. The Asst. Superintendent of Post Offices, Tambaram had visited Pallikaranai in August, to obtain the willingness letter. But it has not materialised even today.        'The shop was taken on lease from the Panchayat, a few years ago. And the person who took it on lease has allowed the post office to function there. Moreover he has not been regular with the payment of rents,' says the Executive Officer at Pallikaranai Panchayat office. 'If the postal department approaches the local village heads and the Panchayat President, they may suggest suitable alternative accommodation,' he says.

        The postal department on its part is quite open to function from rented premises offered by local residents. 'But according to Government policy we cannot pay an advance which is usually demanded by private property owners. We can pay only monthly rents,' says the Asst. Superintendent of Post Offices at Tambaram.

        'Land values have risen steeply over the past few years at Pallikaranai,' says Karthi, a resident here. 'Properties that were worth about ten thousand rupees about a decade ago are now quoted for five lakh rupees. And it is difficult to rent out a residential space without the payment of an advance,' he says.

        Settlements sandwiched between Selaiyur and Velacheri on the Velacheri Main Road, including Chembakkam, Gowrivakkam, Perumbakkam, Pallikaranai, and even Mylai Balaji nagar are still considered as rural pockets. And people at Pallikaranai have to go to the post office at Gowrivakkam or Velacheri to send a registered parcel or a simple speed post. The branch office at Pallikaranai handles just letters, registered posts, money order bookings, savings and recurring deposits.

        The BSNL landline subscribers of Pallikaranai pay their monthly and bi-monthly telephone dues at this branch post office. And the humble transaction counter here sees many thousands of rupees remitted almost every day. Hemmed in by newly mushroomed blocks of IT establishments in the erstwhile paddy fields and marshes, people of this small town still wait for a post office that can handle speed posts and simple parcels.