Though the volume of letters and parcels through post has declined in the last 15 years in Meghalaya because of email and SMS, people in rural areas are still dependent on postmen and there has been no retrenchment in the department.

"People in villages still depend largely on postal services and postmen clear mail from post boxes twice a day," D K Dey, senior post master of the Shillong GPO said.

Out of 1.55 lakh post offices in the country, 1.38 lakh are located in rural areas which serve 80 per cent of the rural population.

Dey said there are 661 staff working at the village level.

GPO officials point out that though the mail services have been hit hard there has been no retrenchment.

"Every sub-post office and delivery office is put under review and if the staff strength is not found proportional to the workload, they are deployed to other offices," an official said.

At the Shillong GPO, there are 43 postmen and nearly a hundred employees.

"Since 1995 there has been a drop of 45 per cent in the flow of mail and sale of postcards and envelopes affecting the postal delivery system," Dey said.

"In many places the telegram has become redundant. Of course some organisations and agencies still prefer telegrams due to unavailability of the internet," he said.

Stating that the internet and mobile phones have led to decline in the postal services, Dey said the postal department has now introduced new services.

The department has of late inducted a dedicated cargo aircraft for transporting mail and parcels to the northeast.

E-enabled services like e-post, Western Union Money Order service and Instant Money Order Service, which were hitherto confined to post offices in urban areas, have now been extended to posts offices in rural areas.