Senior citizens bear the brunt at crowded Trichy head post office

Trichy: Heavy rush at the Trichy head post office in Melapudur has put senior citizens who regularly use the facility at the receiving end. As the new financial year has started, many people rush to complete transactions related to small savings schemes, other investments, and postal services. Due to this, senior citizens were made to wait for long, sometime standing in a queue.
Besides, all 10 counters at the post office for various purposes, including passbook printing, multipurpose transactions, and information services, are not functioning all the time. The problem is compounded by "server issues", leading to disruption of services at the facility.
"I came early just to stand in line for hours. There is not enough space to sit as well," said A S Krishnamoorhty, a senior citizen who came to get his passbook printed at the counter. "The heat, the crowd, and jostling are too much for people our age. At least during the peak season like this, officials should set up a separate counter for senior citizens."
Senior citizens said several services can only be availed at the head post offices, and digital transactions are still rudimentary or unavailable. "We come to the head post office because it offers more comprehensive services than the sub-post offices. They say everything is going digital, but it's disheartening to wait long because of server issues," said Mohammed Imthiaz.
Even a simple task such as paying fees for a registered post could not be completed through an online transaction.
A senior officer said server issues are due to high volume of transactions as it is the start of the financial year. "India Post has single unified server. When a bank with 10,000–15,000 branches experiences server issues, it is difficult to avoid such issues for the postal department with 1.5 lakh offices across the country," the official said.
On opening a separate counter for senior citizens, the official said, "Around 75% of the people who come here are senior citizens, so practically all counters serve them."