Now, get veggies, fruits delivered by postman

Now, get veggies, fruits delivered by postman

Oppili.P@timesgroup.com

Chennai:  19.05.2020

The postman who delivers your letters could soon be bringing you fruits or vegetables booke online with the horticulture department. A tie-up with India Post, tried out successfully in Chitlapakkam, is expected to bring the system into force in a week.

Mounting complaints of non-delivery of veggies and fruits by mini-autorickshaws hired by the department and the government relaxing lockdown norms for operation of regular autorickshaws prompted the decision to launch the initiative, a senior horticulture department official told TOI.

Initially, only parcels of vegetables, depending upon the operative area capacity of each post office, will be delivered. “We want to send a maximum of 7kg of vegetables or fruits in each parcel. The postal department with its experience can comfortably deliver parcels weighing such small quantities. It has the vehicles to distribute the parcels without any difficulty,” he said.

Moreover, due to the continuing lockdown, the postal department has not been handling any parcels at present. The new initiative, it was felt, will not only bring relief to residents struggling to source vegetables or fruits, it will also earn Indoa Post the much needed revenue.

Until now, despite being flooded with complaints from residents about not getting the vegetable or fruit parcels booked online, the department had not been able to take severe action against erring vehicle owners tasked with the job. Such problems, the official said, are unlikely to crop up with the regard to new scheme as the postal department is known for its prompt delivery of letters and parcels.

Besides, the postman or woman entrusted the task, is unlikely to delay delivery as he/she knows the streets and roads in his/her jurisdiction well. In most cases, they often strike a good personal rapport with the residents that could be an added advantage for the success of the new initiative, he said.

For each parcel delivered, the postal department will get as commission 10% of the total value of the parcel – a rate fixed after discussions between the two departments, the official said.

FRESH OUT OF FARM: Workers of horticulture department pack vegetables and fruits after sorting and cleaning them in their centralised godown in Guindy