Imphal, May 04: Thanks to the efforts taken up by the authority of the Postal Services Department, from August or July end this year, the people of Manipur will begin to receive mails, parcels, letters and other items from anywhere across the world at a much quicker time.

The new step also means that newspapers published in other cities will be received daily.

Speaking exclusively to The Sangai Express Director of the Postal Services, Manipur, Tripura and Mizoram, T Mang Min Thang said that a special cargo flight of the Postal Department will be introduced in the North East region either from the end part of July or beginning of August.

The Director said that the aircraft to conduct the cargo service has been taken on lease from Air India.

The 15 ton capacity cargo plane will operate in all the North East States daily, said the Indian Postal Service officer.

"Since the daily mail and other postal articles coming from Kolkata airport to the North East region is only about 6 tonnes, we are looking towards the trading and business community of the region to avail the new facility and fill up the vacant 8 tons," said Thang.

The advantage of the new facility to be will prove a boon to the trading community of the region as handloom and handicrafts items, agro based products and other indigenous products can be dispatched to other parts of the country at a competitive rate, he said.

This means that the rate will be lower than the ones charged by commercial flights.

Other than the traditional letters and mails, the cargo flight can also bring in other items like computers, medicines etc.

Deputy Superintendent of Imphal Head Post Office, Kumar has already got in touch with the trading community, including the Chamber of Commerce at Moreh, said the Director.

The idea of launching the new postal cargo services was taken after taking into consideration the sufferings and inconveniences faced by the people due to the long wait they had to endure to receive their mails and other items from the Post office, said the officer.

The inconveniences of the people are also compounded by the frequent bandhs and blockades faced in the State besides the poor road connectivity.

Another factor is the inability to send the mails and other items on the commercial flights because of limited capacity.

"We are trying our best to improve the service to the people and we hope the new facility will go a long way in meeting their expectations from the Postal Department," said Thang.

Another step taken up by the Postal Department to convenience the people is extending the working hours of the Speed Post booking, said the officer.

From May 2, the working hours for Speed Post has been fixed from 8.30 am to 6.30 pm.

Earlier the Speed Post counter was opened from 8.30 am to 2 pm, which meant a long and exhaustive queue.

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