India Post
Apart from delivering services to general public and corporates, India Post is also proud custodian of a rich heritage of postal buildings that echo the historical evolution and architectural grandeur of bygone eras.
[8][9] The DoP also acts as an agent for the Indian government in discharging other services for citizens such as old age pension payments and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) wage disbursement.
[11][12] A number of acts were enacted during the British Raj to expand and regulate posts and telegraphs service: 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.
One unique telegraph office was established and operated in the capital of Lhasa until the People's Republic of China's annexation of Tibet.
In April 1959, the Indian Postal Department adopted the motto "Service before help"; it revised its logo in September 2008.
[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 Indian Post Office Act, 1866 (XIV) introduced reforms by 1 May 1866 to correct some of the more obvious postal-system deficiencies and abuses.
It depicts the Indian flag with the patriots' slogan, Jai Hind ("long live India"), at the top right-hand corner.
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).
Countries which have had stamps printed in India include Burma (before independence), Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Portugal and Ethiopia.
[43] There are total of 19,101 PINs covering 154,725 post offices in India, with the exception of the Army Postal Service, as of[update] 2014.
[44][45] Indian post proposed a 10 digit unique identification number to each and every address in India based on geo coordinates called DIGIPIN.
[47] Draft approach paper on Digital Address Code was issued by Indian Post for public comments.
[23] The project plans to upgrade post offices in urban and rural areas, improving service and appearance into a vibrant and responsive organization and to make a visible and positive difference.
The project aims to create an effective, friendly environment for staff and customers, providing secure IT services and improving mail delivery, remittances (electronic and manual) and postal-savings plans.
[49] Multipurpose counter machines with computers were introduced in post offices in 1991 to improve customer service and increase staff productivity.
In 2012, a plan costing ₹1,877.2 crore (equivalent to ₹35 billion or US$410 million in 2023) was formulated to computerize rural post offices.
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.
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.
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.
Four philatelic bureaux—the Bombay, Madras, Calcutta and Parliament Street, New Delhi GPOs are authorized to sell United Nations stamps.
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.
The Electronic Indian Postal Order (e-IPO) was introduced on 22 March 2013, initially only for citizens living abroad.
[60] A collaboration between the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) and the Department of Posts has enabled the computation of consumer-price indices for rural areas.
The agreement authorises the postal service to collect data on prices paid for selected consumer goods.
[61][62] According to the Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad, revenue of India Post from such deliveries would go up to ₹15 billion (US$170 million) in the year 2015–16.
