Indian Postal Service
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| Indian Postal Service | |
 |
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| Type of Company | Agency of Indian government (government monopoly) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1764 |
| Headquarters | |
| Key people | Mrs Jyotsna Diesh, Director General |
| Industry | Courier |
| Employees | 593,878 (2001) [1] |
| Website | www.indiapost.gov.in |
Indian Postal Service functioning under the brand name India Post, is a government operated postal system in India; it is generally referred to within India as "the post office."
The Indian Postal Service, with 154,000 post offices, is the most widely distributed post office system in the world (China is next, with 57,000[2]). The large numbers are a result of a long tradition of many disparate postal systems which were unified in the Indian Union post-Independence. Owing to this far-flung reach and its presence in remote areas, the Indian postal service is also involved in other services such as small savings banking and financial services.
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[edit] History
There is record of a messenger system in the Atharvaveda, and systems for collecting information and revenue data from the provinces are mentioned in Chanakya's Arthashastra (3d c. BCE). Literary texts mention doots (messengers) and pigeons being sent to communicate messages.
A messenger post system was introduced by Qutb-ud-din Aybak. This was expanded into the dak chowkis, a horse and foot runner service, by Alauddin Khilji in 1296. This was reformed completely during Sher Shah Suri (1540's) who constructed the 4,800-km Grand Trunk Road from Bengal to Peshawar. According to the Tarikh-i-Sher-Shahi by Abbas Khan Sherwani, the postal service Diwan-i-Insa employed nearly 3400 people to man 1700 horse-relay stations at "serais", which also served as post offices. Two clerks (tarikh nawis) served at each sarai and the post was carried by mewras, members of a lower cast tribe. This system was largely retained during Mughal rule.
The East India Company established post offices in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata from 1764-1766, each serving the Bombay, Madras and Calcutta presidencies. During Warren Hastings' governorship, postal service was made available to the general public. A letter would cost 2 annas (one-eighth of a Rupee) for distances upto 100 miles. Payments would be done through copper tokensp; a letter was hand stamped "post paid" if it was paid for, else it was stamped "post unpaid" or "bearing".
In 1839, North West Province Circle was formed and since then, new Postal Circles were formed as needed. In December 1860 Punjab Circle, in 1861 Burma Circle, in 1866 Central Province Circle and in 1869 Sind Circle were formed. By 1880 circles had been formed in Oudh (1870), Rajputana (1871), Assam (1873), Bihar (1877), Eastern Bengal (1878) and Central India (1879). Afterwards, the creation of new circles was accompanied by the merging of some circles. By 1914, there were only 7 Postal Circles — Bengal & Assam, Bihar & Orissa, Bombay (including Sind), Burma, Central, Madras, Punjab & NWF and U.P.[3]
The usage of the stamps began on 1 July 1852 in Scinde/Sindh district, with the use of an embossed pattern on paper or wax. The shape was circular, with "SCINDE DISTRICT DAWK" around the rim, leading to the common name "Scinde Dawk". 1854 was the year of the first issue for all of India. The stamps were issued by the East India Company, which first printed a 1/2a vermilion in April but never sold it to the public, then put four values (1/2a, 1a, 2a, 4a) on sale in October. All were designed and printed in Calcutta, featuring the usual profile of Queen Victoria. A new set of stamps, with the queen in an oval vignette inside a rectangular frame, and inscribed "EAST INDIA POSTAGE", was printed by De La Rue in England (who produced all the subsequent issues of British India) and made available in 1855. These continued in use until after the British government took over administration of India in 1858, and from 1865 were printed on paper watermarked with an elephant head.
[edit] Governance and organization
The postal service comes under the Department of Posts which is a part of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology under the Government of India. The apex body of the department is the Postal Service Board. The board consists of a chairman and three members. The three members hold the portfolios of Operations & Marketing , Development and Personnel. The Joint Secretary and Financial Advisor to the Board is also a permanent invitee to the Board.
India has been divided into 22 postal circles. Each circle is headed by a Chief Postmaster General. Each Circle is further divided into Regions comprising field units, called Divisions, headed by a Postmaster General. Other functional units like Circle Stamp Depots, Postal Stores Depots and Mail Motor Service may exist in the Circles and Regions.
Besides the 22 circles, there is a special Circle called the Base Circle to cater to the postal services of the Armed Forces of India. The Base Circle is headed by an Additional Director General, Army Postal Service holding the rank of a Major General.
[edit] Types of postal facilities
Postal operations at the post office encompass the entire gamut of the basic postal services which interalia include: (i) Sale of stamps and stationery (ii) Booking of registered articles (iii) Booking of insured articles (iv) Booking of value payable articles (v) Remittance of money through money orders and postal orders (vi) Booking of Parcels
Traditionally, these services were being provided at manually operated counters. Considering the vital need for providing the benefit of technology to the customers, the counter operations are now being progressively computerised to provide a greater range of service to the customer from a single window leading to services being more responsive, and error free.
[edit] Non-postal services
The post office has also traditionally served as a financial institution for millions of people in rural India. Currently these are some of the activities being supported:
- Public Provident Fund
- National Savings Certificate
- Savings Bank Account
- Monthly Income Scheme
- Recurring Deposit Account
- Post boxes for mail receipt
[edit] See also
- Postal Index Number
- Postage stamps and postal history of India.
- List of postal codes in India
- Indian Postal Service
[edit] References
- ^ Indiapost - Actual staff strength official Indian Post website
- ^ Countries With Most Post Offices. Retrieved on 2006-11-29. (Data 2001)
- ^ Bayanwala, A.K. Indian Postal History: 1947-1997. Stamps of India, New Delhi, India. Retrieved on 2006-05-23.
[edit] External links
- Official IndiaPost website
- 150 years of postal service.
- History of Indian Postal Stamps
- Indian Postal History 1947-1957
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