Department Of Posts.docx

Department of Posts (DoP), trading as India Post, is a government-operated postal system in India under the Department of Posts, which is part of the Ministry of Communications of the Government of India. Generally called "the post office" in India, it is the most widely distributed postal system in the world. It is involved in delivering mails, remitting money by money orders, accepting deposits under Small Savings Schemes, providing life insurance cover 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 155,015 post offices, 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 15,500 ft (4,700 m).[2][3]

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1 History o 1.1 Posts and the British Raj (1858–1947) o 1.2 After independence in 1947 2 Postage-stamp history o 2.1 First adhesive stamps in Asia o 2.2 Stamps issued by the East India Company o 2.3 Post-independence stamps 3 Revenue 4 PIN 5 Project Arrow 6 Services o 6.1 Philately o 6.2 Army Postal Service o 6.3 Electronic Indian Postal Order o 6.4 Postal Life insurance o 6.5 Postal savings o 6.6 Banking o 6.7 Data collection o 6.8 E-Commerce delivery o 6.9 Other services 7 References 8 Further reading

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9 External links

History

Indian postal service Educational card, late 19th or early 20th century

1850s Scinde Dawk stamp

A modern Indian Post Office near Udagamandalam Main 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.[4] By 1861, there were 889 post offices handling nearly 43 million letters and over 4.5 million newspapers annually. The first superintendent of the post office was appointed in 1870 and based in Allahabad and in 1876, British India became the first non-founding member of the General Postal Union.[5]

A number of acts were enacted during the British Raj to expand and regulate Posts and Telegraphs service: 

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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. 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. Telegraph Act, 1885 (Indian Telegraph Act) The Indian Post Office Act 1898 (6 of 1898), 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 (17 of 1933)

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.[6] India Post inaugurated a floating post office in August 2011 at Dal Lake in Srinagar, Kashmir.[7] Telegraphy and telephony made their appearance as part of the postal service before becoming separate departments. The Posts and Telegraphs Departments merged in 1914, dividing again on 1 January 1985