The postal department has already issued orders to post offices not to accept accountable articles like registered letters, money orders and speed post, keeping in view the likelihood of disruption in services.

The main demand of the striking unions, the National Federation of Postal Employees (NFPE) and the National Union of Postal Employees, has been revision in the pay scales of employees in various grades under the department. ``Our main fight is for those who man the offices in the rural areas,'' said Sashi Awle, regional chief of NFPE.

The workers in rural areas have been getting a stipend of Rs 270 per month for more than three decades and are not entitled to pension or other benefits, according to officials. They constitute nearly half of the total postal workforce of six lakh.

The unions have also demanded revision in the pay scalesof other employees like postmen, mail guards and peons. However, a few days ago, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sushma Swaraj said that salaries of postmen would be revised soon. ``Thus, one of the demands of the unions has already been conceded,'' a senior official said. However, the chief postmaster general, Aparna Mohile, claimed the effect of the strike on postal services would be negligible. ``We have closed services regarding accountable articles because of uncertainty over the working of offices at the destinations,'' she said.

Mohile added that main post offices in the city like the GPO, the one at the airport and the main mailing centres like the one at Dadar would remain open. She felt that services like sale of stamps and envelopes would remain normal.

Though employees feel the strike will be total, the Bharatiya Dak Karmachari Mahasangh, the third postal union, has declared that it would not support the agitation. This is the second postal agitation in two years. In 1996, allthree unions had gone on a seven-day strike for better pay.