Postal manual volume specifies the preservation period of
each and every document in post offices. Vouchers and list of transactions
(LOT) are to be preserved by SBCO for a period of six years and you will be
permitted to weed out the documents only after taking agreement with the sub
offices. In case agreement is not completed, even after the expiry of
preservation period SBCO will not be permitted to weed out the records.
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| No MTS staff willing to carry these bags to record room |
As part of national cleaning week by Modi government post
offices were asked to weed out the records. But I don’t think all head post
offices have done it. Sometimes SBCO will not weed not even after getting the
sanction for weed out. The reason is delay in taking agreement.
There is no sufficient place in offices to store these
records. No store keeper to maintain the records. SBCO is assigned to preserve
these records like watch dogs and at any circumstance SB branch demands for any
old vouchers we have to give them; mentioning branch does not branch alone it
can be superintendent or any higher officers in case of fraud cases or claims
after years. The pathetic condition of SBCO is no specific room for preserving
the vouchers, no specific arrangement. Accounts branch, mails branch, SBCO and
all other sections in the post office dump the records in a single room.
Let me share the atmosphere in a record room. You will
not be able to see the flooring because you will be stamping on the sack once
you enter the room. You have to walk on top of the huge sacks. Sacks will be
arranged like Himalaya; some will have tags to identify the category and year
while some will not have any label.
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| The place where SBCO sit in post office |
What all task is assigned to SBCO? - verify the accounts,
take annual agreement and half yearly agreement, check the balances, tally the
monthly figures, preserve the vouchers, have to carry them to record room, and
have to live and inhale the historic dust in order to search the old records.
In case SBCO staff go and make some passage in the record
room, after some days the condition of record room will be the same. Other branches
will dump their bags in the passage and go. We act like Naraanath braanthan (lunatic
man; he is a character who used to take tiresome effort to roll the stone above
the hill and drop from the hill top. He used to repeat this process daily. Nobody
knew for what purpose or for what reason he repeated his action) SBCO is like
that lunatic man in arranging the record room repeatedly but the condition
remains the same. In case MTS staff sees SBCO cleaning the record room for
heaven sake nobody will lend a hand.
Vouchers were kept on top of the cup boards and during
the time of PMG visit everything was shifted to please the PMG. The reason for
shifting vouchers from the top of cup boards is another comedy; PMG does not
like anything on top of cup boards but anything dumped on the path is not at
all a problem.
Another circular came with regard to the cleaning of post
offices. No outside workers are
permitted, post master have to choose one Saturday afternoon and all the officials should work together in
cleaning the office. Though each and every person initialled in the circular
nobody took initiative in doing it.
Posting store keepers to preserve these records is
required. SBCO is having the grade pay of Rs 2400 and the job includes MTS,
system administrator, postal assistant and store keeper. In the limited space
available preservation is a difficult practice as far as SBCO is considered;
also lag in the weeding out of vouchers pile up the number of sacks.
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| even underneath table no space to keep legs |
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