The postman is a Government servant. There are post offices nil over the country, in every town and every important village. Every post office has number of postmen. The number depends upon the quantity of work. The area under a post office is divided into several parts and one postman is put in charge of that part.
Bags of letters coming from different places are sorted at the post office and given to the postman concerned. They put them in their leather bags to deliver to the addressees. Each postman receives the money orders also from the post master for delivery. There are registered letters and insured letters and ordinary parcels and insured parcels. He puts them all in the bag. If the parcel is a large one he takes another bag with him. In large cities, the postal bus takes the postmen round and leaves them in their respective circles. In smaller cities the postman goes on cycle or on foot as it is comfortable to him.
The postman is provided a khaki uniform to wear during his duty. On his duty he appears quite an active man. We see a bag hanging by his left shoulder. He looks shabby in his duty. The postman leaves his home early in the morning and returns late at noon. He goes once more in the afternoon for the second round. This he does every day in all weathers and seasons. He gets a very few holidays. Sunday is the only holiday when he can enjoy rest. In the rural areas, the duty of a postman is harder. He has to cover long distances from village to village. There is danger of being robbed or attacked by bad characters.
The pay of postman is small. His duties are hard. He has also to be honest. His holidays and leisure hours are very few. The Government should raise his salary and lighten his work. His department should try to improve his lot.
Though a postcard of a small amount has no value, yet often business transactions of thousands of rupees is carried on through it. Thus we see that the postman is a very important man.
