Even as the postal service has lost its earlier utility and glory with the advancement of information and technology, people still depend upon it for certain important works. Under the circumstances, a postmaster at a remote village in Gajapati district is providing postal service to the local people despite facing many problems.
Meet Sudarshan Mishra who is a postmaster at the post office in remote Chhelagada village under R Udayagiri block in the district. Sans mobile network, it is almost impossible to execute many online works at the post office. The situation is forcing 63-year-old Mishra to climb the nearby hill, which is located 4 km away from the post office, to access the network and provide various postal services to the local people.
Mishra popularly known as ‘Chhelagada Postmaster Babu’ has been providing postal service to the people of the area in this out of box manner for the last 43 years.
“As the mobile network is not available at Chhelagada, it is not possible to execute online work at the post office. As a result, I am forced to climb the hill located 4 km away from the village to access the network and do various works of the post office. I am doing the mail operation and distributing letters and books from here. I have to cover 4 km every day to deliver the service,” said Mishra.
Local people are all praise for Mishra for his sincerity.
“Chhelagada Postmaster Babu even braves inclement weather to climb the hill on a daily basis to access the network for providing postal service to us. People of the locality are indebted to him,” said Narayan Bhuyana, a local resident.
Mishra had started his job in 1980 with a meagre salary of Rs 101.50. Though 43 years have passed since then, Mishra is providing postal service to the people with the same kind of zeal and sincerity. He climbs the hill twice a day to access the network to execute online work. People from nearby villages wait for Mishra atop the hill every morning for their work.
“Though he is 63 years of age, he is working tirelessly and sincerely to provide postal service to the people of this locality. At this age, it is quite arduous to climb atop the hill on a daily basis. However, he doesn’t mind facing the challenge for the service of people,” said Jagannath Ranjit, former Samiti member.