As Economy Zooms, India's Postmen Struggle to Adapt

MUMBAI, India -- When Mumbai Region Postmaster General A.P. Srivastava joined the postal system 27 years ago, mailmen routinely hired extra laborers to help carry bulging gunnysacks of letters they took all day to deliver.

Today, private-sector couriers such as FedEx Corp. and United Parcel Service Inc. have grabbed more than half the delivery business nationwide. That means this city's thousands of postmen finish their rounds before lunch. Mr. Srivastava, who can't fire excess staffers, spends much of his time cooking up new schemes to keep his workers busy. He's ruled out selling onions at Mumbai post offices: too perishable. ...