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The Post Office is universally recognised as a facilitator of communication. The origin of postal system in India dates back to the Mauryan Age, which has the roots of the elements of system, established later by the British, the Princely States, the District postal systems and the Zamindari dak. The postal services in India commenced with a skeletal network of 701 post offices under the control of a Director General on 1st October, 1854. Today, the postal network has 1,55,000 outlets in the country which is the largest in the world. India Post, as we call it today, is launching several functions to coincide with its 150 years service to the Nation. The celebration will begin with the main function at Siri Fort Auditorium on 4th October, 2004 which will be presided over by the Hon’ble President. The celebrations will go on for a year through out the country.
On 4th of October, 2004, the maiden function will be marked by release of a set of four commemorative stamps, in the denomination of rupees five each, by the President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and release of commemorative coin by the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. The function will also be marked by presentation of Meghdoot Awards by the President for Excellence in Postal Services.
Looking back, the British Postal system in India was established by Lord Clive in 1776 which was further developed by Warren Hastings who established the Calcutta GPO in 1774 followed by Madras GPO in 1786 and the Bombay GPO in 1793. The Post Office Act of 1854 reformed the earlier postal system providing total monopoly to the Government for the management of Post Office and the exclusive privilege for conveyance of letters whereas the 1837 Act united the Post Office organisations in all the three presidencies into one All India Service.
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