India post brief history
Formed
1 October 1854; 166 years ago
Jurisdiction
India
Headquarters
Dak Bhawan, Sansad Marg, New Delhi
Minister responsible
Ravi Shankar Prasad, Cabinet Minister for Communications
Department executives
Pradipta Kumar Bisoi, Secretary
Vineet pandey, Director General
Parent Ministry
Ministry of Communications
Key document
The Indian Post Office Act, 1898
Website
www.indiapost.gov.in
It is involved in delivering mail (post), remitting money by money
orders, accepting deposits under Small Savings Schemes, providing life
insurance coverage under Postal Life Insurance (PLI) and Rural Postal Life
Insurance (RPLI) and providing retail services like bill collection, sale of
forms, etc. The DoP also acts as an agent for Government of India in
discharging other services for citizens such as old age pension payments and
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) wage
disbursement with 154,965 Post Offices (as on 31.03.2017), India Post has the
most widely distributed postal network in the world.
The country has been divided into 23 postal circles, each circle
headed by a Chief Postmaster General. Each circle is divided into regions,
headed by a Postmaster General and comprising field units known as Divisions.
These divisions are further divided into subdivisions. In addition to the 23
circles, there is a base circle to provide postal services to the Armed Forces
of India headed by a director-general. One of the highest post offices in the
world is in [[Hikkim, Himachal Pradesh]] operated by India Post at a height of
14,567 ft (4,440 m).[9][10]
History
Indian postal service Educational card, late 19th or early 20th
century
1850s Scinde Dawk stamp
A modern Indian post office near UdagamandalamMain articles:
Postage stamps and postal history of India and Postage stamps and postal
history of the Indian states
Posts and the British
Raj (1858–1947)
The British Raj was instituted in 1858, when the rule of the East
India Company was transferred to the Crown.
A number of acts were enacted during the British Raj to expand and
regulate posts and telegraphs service:
The Government Savings Bank Act, 1873 (5 of 1873), passed by the
legislature 28 January 1873, was enacted in 1881. On 1 April 1882, Post Office
Savings Banks opened throughout India (except in the Bombay Presidency). In
Madras Presidency, it was limited; in the Bengal Presidency, no POSBs were
established in Calcutta or Howrah.[13]
Postal life insurance began on 1 February 1884 as a welfare
measure for the employees of the Posts & Telegraphs Department as
Government of India dispatch No. 299 dated 18 October 1882 to the Secretary of
State.[14]
The Indian Telegraph Act, 1885
The Indian Post Office Act, 1898,[15] passed by the legislature on
22 March 1898, became effective on 1 July 1898 regulating postal service. It
was preceded by Act III of 1882 and Act XVI of 1896.
The Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933[16]
The world's first official airmail flight took place in India on
18 February 1911, a journey of 18 kilometres (11 mi) lasting 27 minutes. Henri
Pequet, a French pilot, carried about 15 kilograms (33 lb) of mail
(approximately 6,000 letters and cards) across the Ganges from Allahabad to
Naini; included in the airmail was a letter to King George V of the United
Kingdom.[17] India Post inaugurated a floating post office in August 2011 at
Dal Lake in Srinagar, Kashmir.[18] Telegraphy and telephony made their
appearance as part of the postal service before becoming separate departments.
One unique telegraph office was established and operated in the capital of
Lhasa until the People's Republic of China's annexation of
Tibet.[19][20][21][22] It is one of the Floating Wonders of India.[citation
needed] The Posts and Telegraphs departments merged in 1914, dividing again on
1 January 1985.
After independence in
1947
Since India became independent in 1947, the postal service
continues to function on a nationwide basis, providing a variety of services.
The structure of the organization has the directorate at its apex; below it are
circle offices, regional offices, the superintendent's offices, head post
offices, sub-post offices and branch offices. In April 1959, the Indian Postal
Department adopted the motto "Service before help"; it revised its
logo in September 2008.[23]
The number of post offices was 23,344 when India became
independent in 1947 and these were primarily in urban areas. The number
increased to 155,015 in 2016 and 90% of these were in rural areas.[24]
The first adhesive postage stamps in Asia were issued in the
Indian district of Scinde in July 1852 by Bartle Frere, chief commissioner of
the region.[25] Frere was an admirer of Rowland Hill, the English postal
reformer who had introduced the Penny Post. The Scinde stamps became known as
"Scinde Dawks"; "Dawk" is the Anglicised spelling of the
Hindustani word Dak or ("post"). These stamps, with a value of
1⁄2-anna, were in use until June 1866. The first all-India stamps were issued
on 1 October 1854.
Stamps issued by the East India Company Edit
1955 money order (front)
1955 money order (back)
The volume of mail moved by the postal system increased
significantly, doubling between 1854 and 1866 and doubling again by 1871. The
Indian Post Office Act, 1866 (XIV) introduced reforms by 1 May 1866 to correct
some of the more obvious postal-system deficiencies and abuses. Postal-service
efficiencies were also introduced. In 1863, lower rates were set for
"steamer" mail to Europe at (six annas, eight pies for a 1⁄2-ounce
letter). Lower rates were also introduced for inland mail.
New regulations removed special postal privileges enjoyed by
officials of the East India Company. Stamps for official use were prepared and
carefully accounted for, to combat abuses by officials. In 1854 Spain had
printed special stamps for official communications, but in 1866 India was the
first country to adopt the expedient of overprinting "Service" on
postage stamps and "Service Postage" on revenue stamps. This
innovation was later widely adopted by other countries.[26]
Shortages developed, so stamps also had to be improvised. Some
"Service Postage" overprinted rarities resulted from abrupt changes
in postal regulations. New designs for the four-anna and six-anna-eight-pie
stamps were issued in 1866. Nevertheless, there was a shortage of stamps to
meet the new rates. Provisional six-anna stamps were improvised by cutting the
top
and bottom from a current foreign-bill revenue stamp and
overprinting "Postage". India was the first country in the
Commonwealth to issue airmail stamps.[27]
Post-independence stamps
Brown-and-pink stamp depicting a temple
India attained independence on 15 August 1947. Thereafter, the
Indian Posts and Telegraph Department embarked on a broad-based policy for the
issuance of stamps. On 21 November 1947 the first new stamp was issued by
independent India. It depicts the Indian flag with the patriots' slogan, Jai
Hind ("long live India"), at the top right-hand corner. The stamp was
valued at three and one-half annas. A memorial to Mahatma Gandhi was issued 15
August 1948 on the first anniversary of independence. One year later a
definitive series appeared, depicting India's broad cultural heritage
(primarily Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Sikh and Jain temples, sculptures,
monuments and fortresses). A subsequent issue commemorated the beginning of the
Republic of India on 26 January 1950. Definitives included a
technology-and-development theme in 1955, a series depicting a map of India in
1957 (denominated in naya paisa—decimal currency) and a 1965 series with a wide
variety of images. The old inscription "India Postage" was replaced
in 1962 with "भारत INDIA", although three stamps (issued from
December 1962 to January 1963) carried the earlier inscription.[28]
India has printed stamps and postal stationery for other
countries, mostly neighbours. Countries which have had stamps printed in India
include Burma (before independence), Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Portugal and
Ethiopia.[29] The country has issued definitive and commemorative stamps. Six
definitive series on India's heritage and progress in a number of fields have
been issued. The seventh series, with a theme of science and technology, began
in 1986. Between independence and 1983, 770 stamps were issued.
PIN
A Post Box of India Post
A stamp released on India Post Payments Bank in 2017.
The Postal Index Number (PIN, or sometimes redundantly PIN code)
is a six-digit postal code. The PIN system was made by Shriram Bhikaji Velankar
when he was at service in Kolkata. It was introduced on 15 August 1972 by
former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. There are nine postal zones in the
country; the first eight are geographical regions, and the ninth is reserved
for the Army Postal Service (APS).
The PIN system is
organised in the following way:
The first digit indicates the zone.
The first two digits indicate the sub-zone (or postal circle).
The first three digits indicate a sorting district.
The last three digits indicate the delivery post office.
The PIN for an address may be found on the Postal Service
website.[31] There are total of 19,101 PINs covering 154,725 post offices in
India, with the exception of the Army Postal Service, as of 2014.[32][33]
Project Arrow
Services
The first philatelic Society in India was founded in Calcutta on 6
March 1897 to service postage-stamp collections. Function include design,
printing and distribution of special or commemorative postage stamps,
definitive postage stamps and items of postal stationery, promotion of
philately, conduct of philatelic examinations at the national level,
participation in international exhibitions and monitoring exhibitions at the
state, regional and district levels and maintenance of the National Philatelic
Museum. Philatelic bureaus were established in head post offices located at
circle headquarters and at district-capital head post offices (as necessary).
There are 68 philately bureaus and 1111 philatelic counters, including all head
post offices (Mukhya Dak Ghars) in the country as of 31 March 2011.[36]:44 A
domestic philatelic deposit-account system was introduced on 1 August 1965 at
all philatelic bureaus. Customers are given priority in purchasing
commemorative or special-issue stamps, first-day covers and information sheets
soon after their issue by opening a deposit account at any philatelic bureau.
The number of philately deposit-accountholders grew from 23,905 in 1999–2000 to
168,282 in 2006–2007 and 183,202 in 2008–2009. Four philatelic Bureaus—the
Bombay, Madras, Calcutta and Parliament Street, New Delhi GPOs are authorized
to sell United Nations stamps. A quarterly philatelic magazine, Philapost, was
launched in 2008.
The Department of Post has also developed software for philatelic
inventory management, known as "Philsim". It is used for all
activities relating to philately, including forecasting, indenting, invoicing,
monitoring supply and demand and recording sales and revenue for commemorative
stamps and other philatelic products at philately bureaus and counters (and
definitive stamps and stationery at circle stamp
depots and head post offices).
The National Philatelic Museum of India was inaugurated on 6 July
1968 in New Delhi. It had its beginnings at a meeting of the Philatelic
Advisory Committee on 18 September 1962. Besides a large collection of India
Postage stamps designed, printed and issued, it has a large collection of
Indian states (confederate and feudatory), early essays, proofs and colour
trials, a collection of Indian stamps used abroad, early Indian postcards,
postal stationery and thematic collections. The museum was renovated in 2009 with
more exhibits, a philatelic bureau and postal objects (such as Victorian post
boxes). The Department of Posts inaugurated the National Philatelic Museum on
11 July 2011. It exhibits rare postage stamps from around the world and
provides a venue for philatelists to exhibit their collections.
Army Postal Service
Main article: Army
Postal Service (India)
The Army Postal Service (APS) functions as a government-operated
military mail system in India. A primary feature of Army Postal Service systems
is that normally they are subsidized to ensure that military mail posted
between duty stations abroad and the home country (or vice versa) does not cost
the sender any more than normal domestic mail traffic. In some cases, Indian
military personnel in a combat zone may post letters and/or packages to the
home country for free, while in others, senders located in a specific overseas
area may send military mail to another military recipient, also located in the
same overseas area, without charge.
Electronic Indian
Postal Order
The Electronic Indian Postal Order (e-IPO) was introduced on 22
March 2013, initially only for citizens living abroad. The postal orders can be
used for online payment of fees for access to information under the Right to
Information Act, 2005. The service was expanded to include all Indian citizens
on 14 February 2014.
Postal Life insurance
Postal Life Insurance (PLI) was introduced on 1 February 1884 with
the express approval of the Secretary of State (for India) to Her Majesty, the
Queen Empress of India. It was essentially a welfare scheme for the benefit of
Postal employees in 1884 and later extended to the employees of Telegraph
Department in 1888. In 1894, PLI extended insurance cover to female employees
of P & T Department at a time when no other insurance company covered
female lives. It is the oldest life insurer in this country. There was over 6.4
million policies active as on 31 March 2015 with a sum assured of ₹130,745
crore (US$18 billion). Premium income of PLI for the year 2014-15 was ₹6,053.2
crore (US$850 million). It was extended to all rural residents on 24 March
1995.
Policies for government employees include Santhosh (endowment
assurance), Suraksha (whole-life assurance), Suvidha (convertible whole-life
assurance), Sumangal (anticipated endowment policy) and Yugal Suraksha (joint
life endowment assurance).[38] India Post started Rural Postal Life Insurance
(RPLI) for the rural public in 1995. RPLI plans include Gram Santosh (endowment
assurance), Gram Suraksha (whole-life assurance), Gram Suvidha (convertible
whole-life assurance), Gram Sumangal (anticipated endowment assurance) and Gram
Priya.
Postal savings
The post office offers a number of savings plans, including
recurring deposit accounts, Sukanya Samriddhi Account (SSA), National Savings
Certificates (NSC), Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP), the Public Provident Fund,savings-bank
accounts, monthly-income plans, senior-citizens' savings plans and time-deposit
accounts.
Banking
Main article: India
Post Payments Bank
In 2013 it was revealed that the Indian postal service had
formulated plans to enter the banking industry after RBI guidelines for the
issuance of new banking licenses were released. Eventually they are planning to
open a Post Bank of India, an independent banking service.
As of 29 February 2016, 18,231 post offices are utilizing Core
Banking Solutions (CBS).[42] ATMs are installed at 576 Post Office locations
and debit cards issued to Post Office Savings Bank customers.[43] Core
Insurance Solution (CIS) for Postal Life Insurance (PLI) is rolled out in 808
head post offices and corresponding 24,000+ sub post offices. In September
2017, it was announced that by 2018 all of the 1.55 lakh post offices, every
postman and grameen dak sevak (postmaster) will accept all payment options that
the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) plans to provide.
On 1 September 2018 the India Post Payments Bank was inaugurated
by prime minister Narendra Modi.
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