For the 69-year-old S. Parthasarathy, the new post office on the Ambattur Industrial Estate Road in Mogappair has come as a relief as he can now collect his pension from this facility, located just a few hundred metres from his house. The post office was opened on Monday, a year after it was constructed.
Like him, many residents in the neighbourhood have welcomed the new post office, which comes complete with a number of amenities. Apart from regular transactions, now people can even pay bills including electricity bills through the post office.
The new post office covers areas such as Anna Nagar West, Mogappair and Padi, where senior citizens and retired government officials constitute a huge section of the the population.
“Earlier, we had to go to a congested and dilapidated post office in the neighbourhood where we had to wait in the open without any proper seating arrangements. The new post office has all the basic facilities,” said K. Vani, a resident of Mogappair.
Spread over 7,500 sq ft of land, which belongs to Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB), the Rs. 80 lakh post office has cushion seating arrangements, spacious counters, a large parking space, water taps, a good number of toilets and round-the-clock security. Ramps have also been built to ensure the new facility is disable-friendly. The single storey building has the new post office on the ground floor while the first floor accommodates a house for the post master and a store room. A large visitors’ hall covering a space of 400 sq ft can accommodate 20 people. Further, the new post office has a separate cabin for the post master, a rest room for the staff, a strong room to keep cash. The new facility will focus on banking facilities including opening of an ATM in front of the post office. Currently, such ATM facility inside a post office is available only in T. Nagar while the post office at Tambaram will have it soon too.
Originally sanctioned in May 2013, the actual work on the office began three months later in August. At present, the city and its suburbs have over 230 post offices, but hardly ten per cent of them function from an owned building.
