31/05/2025
“Who Are You?”: The Ongoing Farce in West Bengal's Post Offices and RMS—A Grand Festival of Governmental Irresponsibility Featuring Anonymous 'Public Servants'
Is the postal department running a mass deception under the guise of shadow workforce culture?
An investigative look into the covert, masked, and nameless operations inside West Bengal’s Post Offices and RMS.
Special Report | Durgapur, Purulia, and across the state
❝In a democracy, offices run on taxpayers’ money. But in West Bengal, offices run behind closed doors, with sullen faces, and threats of 'Who are you?' if the public dares to ask.❞
— Sounds absurd? Unfortunately, it’s today’s grim reality.
In 21st-century India, where leaders from the Prime Minister to District Magistrates advocate for transparency and accountability in public service, an unprecedented shadow administration thrives within large parts of West Bengal’s Postal Services and Railway Mail Service (RMS). Here, nameless, faceless, and answerless individuals operate government offices. Who are these people? Under which official order were they recruited? Who granted them this invisible authority?
Durgapur Post Office: The Invisible Kingdom Where Citizens Are Dismissed with Contempt:
In a recent incident in a Durgapur post office, a video captured a disturbing scene: when ordinary people sought services like Speed Post or essential mailing assistance, **the staff refused to respond**. No name badges, no ID cards, no civil conduct. When a citizen politely asked, “Can you please tell me your name?” the answer was chillingly simple: “I cannot tell you.”
It doesn’t stop there. When another asked, “Are you an officer?” the response was a verbal rebuke: “Why do you need to know?”
Why such audacity? Because these individuals know that in this state, administrative responses are sluggish, and if one attempts to file a complaint, they will be tossed between departments endlessly. Citizens, worn down by the system, end up swallowing the insult.
Purulia RMS: Behind Closed Doors, Secret Services Operate:
In the Purulia RMS office, service quality has hit rock bottom. Despite being open, the office keeps its doors and windows shut. From outside, it’s impossible to tell whether anyone is inside. If someone dares to knock persistently, a voice from within barks, “Not possible now. Go away.”
Even for sending urgent Speed Post or official documents, people are being turned away. And if one dares to ask for a name, the reply is consistent: “I won’t say.”
What democratic country tolerates such blatant denial of public service?
Administrative Question: Are They Government Employees or Private Contract Workers?
If they are government employees, they are legally required to wear ID cards, name tags, adhere to fixed work hours, and remain accountable for public service.
If they are contractual workers, even then, transparency regarding their identity and role is mandatory.
But if they are neither—then on whose orders are these post offices operating?
“We Take Salaries Sitting at Home, Get Angry If Asked to Work”—Where Did This Mentality Come From?
It is often said that a government job is meant for serving the public using public money. But the reality has morphed into something far more sinister: many see it as a personal entitlement—drawing salaries without work, treating citizens with arrogance, and threatening them if they raise complaints. This is not merely neglect; it is institutional corruption.
The question is: Does being in a government job grant you power, or does it demand responsibility?
The Hypocrisy Around Privatization: Want the Perks, but Not the Duties?
When the government proposes privatization to enhance service efficiency, these very individuals are the first to take to the streets in protest. But after witnessing their work ethic, the public themselves now ask:
“If this continues, won’t privatization be the only way to uproot this corruption?”
They want the security of government pay—but reject the duties that come with it. Where does this duplicity end?
Law, Constitution, and Citizen Rights: Have They Become Meaningless?
The Constitution of India guarantees citizens the right to government services.
The Right to Information Act explicitly gives citizens the right to know the identity of any public servant** they interact with.
But in West Bengal, the state’s new unwritten law seems to be:
“Why do you want to know? Who are you?”
Even the Indian Postal Act mandates administrative action in case of service denial. So why is this insubordination being tolerated?
Paid by Taxpayers’ Blood, Yet Citizens Are Snubbed with “Who Are You?”
Those who pay taxes are the ones funding these offices. Yet, it is they who are being dismissed, mocked, and insulted.
This is not mere indifference—it is a direct insult to the taxpayer and a betrayal of administrative trust.
Recommendations & Urgent Measures Needed:
1. Each Post Office and RMS center must publicly display the names and roles of all active personnel.
2. ID cards, dress codes, and name badges must be made mandatory.
3. All offices must operate with doors and windows open during working hours—closed-door functioning must be banned.
4. A dedicated citizen complaint helpline must be launched, with action taken against anonymous or non-compliant staff.
5. District-level investigative committees should be set up to dismantle this covert system once and for all.
If a government job truly means “public service,” then it must be transparent, accountable, and dignified.
But if it’s reduced to a **license to sit in silence under the cloak of anonymity, it becomes a disease within democracy itself.
West Bengal’s post offices and RMS centers have now turned into fortresses of corruption, laziness, and contempt—and this is not just an administrative failure. It is an affront to the dignity of every citizen.
The time has come to tear down this curtain of secrecy. Because a government office is not a personal fiefdom—
It is “Our Office, Our Right.”
