Observed on October 10, World Post Day honours and recognises the services of postal organisations that help people stay connected even today, despite the advancement of technology.
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In a world full of quick-response applications, a letter from your loved one still excites you. The post began with communicating through letters, and later introduced services to send documents, money and parcels, after which the telegram, fax, internet, email, mobile phones and SMSes followed. The postal service was mooted by an Indian, Anand Mohan Narula in 1969 at UPU Congress in Tokyo. With over 1,55,015 post offices, India Post has the world’s largest postal network in the world. Today, it has also tied up with online shopping portals to deliver orders that are liable for cash-on-delivery and boost their digital connection.
#WorldPostDay is being observed today with a view to create awareness about the role of postal services in the lives of people, as well as its contribution to global development.#DYK that this was mooted by an Indian, Anand Mohan Narula in 1969 at UPU Congress in Tokyo. pic.twitter.com/7GUkoinrvj
— ALL INDIA RADIO (@AkashvaniAIR) October 9, 2019
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Not just letters
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The national postal carrier did not just deliver letters, but also helped people in emergency situations. After functioning for over a century, the India Post discontinued its telegram services in July 2013 after which the airmails were introduced. Speed posts, book posts and parcels came into existence to make communication more convenient. Industries also used the book post to reach out to their patrons in different parts of the world. Long before e-commerce payment systems made life easy with instant money transferring facilities, money orders helped people send money. Army personnel, too, could send military mail between duty stations and letters to their hometown for free.
Banking in post office?
In 1873, the India Post expanded to banking, under the Government and Saving Banks Act. Ever since, the organisation has been providing saving plans such as recurring deposits, saving bank accounts and monthly income plans. India post also provides saving plans under the Sukanya Samruddhi Yojana, for which, the rate of interest from October 2018 was hiked to 8.5 percent, compounded yearly, making it one of the most beneficial small saving schemes. This would enable people to save money for funding education and marriage of their girl child. The other savings schemes include National Savings Certificate which is a government savings bond used for income tax savings investments, Kisan Vikas Patra and Public Provident Fund. In 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the India Post Payments Bank with an aim to reach out to people in the rural areas. The payment bank offers savings and current accounts with a balance of up to Rs 1 lakh. It offers services such as unified payments interface, NEFT (National Electronic Funds Transfer), RTGS (real-time gross settlement), immediate payment service, Bharat BillPay among others.
Insured by post office for life
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