Computerised services: Postal workers sabotaged major project, Senate panel told

Top officials say staff intentionally made software in the branches ‘defunct’

ISLAMABAD: Senior officials of Pakistan Post Office admitted before a Senate panel on Monday that its own employees were involved in the failure of an ambitious Rs800 million project for computerising the country’s postal service system.

A meeting of the Senate standing committee on communication, chaired by Senator Muhammad Daud Khan Achakzai, was briefed by the senior officers of Pakistan Post in the presence of the communication secretary and the director general of Pakistan Post.

Senior PPO officials said that though the original deadline for the three-year project was 2014 it has since been extended by another two years. “Among other reasons, the primary reason for the failure of the project is the involvement of our own workers, who want to continue their malpractices in the absence of an efficient service,” said one of the senior officers of Pakistan Post Office.

When the committee members asked whether any action was taken against such persons who intentionally block reform in their department, the officer said that they are yet to find out as to who are directly involved. However he affirmed that it is obvious that the staff intentionally made the software in the branches defunct to continue work through the manual system, so that they can continue their malpractices.

The committee expressed its displeasure over the performance of Pakistan Post, despite the fact that it has an extensive network of 48,000 employees and thousands of branches across the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 20^th, 2015.