For the past six months, several techies working in firms along the IT Corridor have missed letters and parcels addressed to them.
Nearly 25 per cent of the 300-400 mails and articles that land at each of the seven post offices along the IT corridor, every day, is returned or delivered late as security personnel at IT firms refuse to accept personal mails of employees.
Postmen of Sholinganallur and Perungudi complain that waiting for long hours at IT firms to deliver mail has affected service to other residents in nearby localities.
To find a solution to the issue, the department of posts has written to over 30 IT companies in Kelambakkam, Sholinganallur, Perungudi and Okkiyam-Thoraipakkam.
Shyam Sundar of Perungudi post office says, “We spend an additional hour simply waiting to deliver letters. The security personnel do not even accept intimation slips. We return articles that are not delivered even after a week.”
The department had earlier convened a meeting with representatives of IT companies, National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) and the labour department. But, the problem remains unsolved.
Mervin Alexander, postmaster general, Chennai City Region, says, “Our staffers contact the addressees on their mobile numbers, if specified in the mails. But, a bulk of the articles is still returned. We plan to represent the issue to the labour department again, as a lot of effort is wasted and delivery to other residents is delayed.”
Responding to the issue, Nasscom’s senior director K. Purushothaman says thousands of employees in IT firms move between various site offices.
“It is difficult to track every employee’s schedule. We have agreed to some suggestions like entry of postmen into IT firms. We will soon convene meeting with stakeholders and the labour department to rectify the problem,” he says.