Though the Indian Postal system that we know today may have
been officially founded in 1764 with its headquarters situated at New Delhi,
the history and development of postal delivery system and its service in the
country goes back much further.
Apart from the fact that Kings have maintained various channels of communications for their exclusive use for receiving and sending news of political and economic importance since time immemorial, the earliest references to transmission of messages are also found in the sacred lore of ancient scriptures of India with the earliest of this being the Atharva Veda, one of the four Vedas.
Prior to their arrival and introduction of the modern postal system, from which the present Indian postal system owed too much, the Dak Chawkis of Mughal period where mail runner, horse courier or special speedy horse carriages drawn by fast-paced stallions were used at times of grave importance and emergency was well known.
But all these aforesaid channels of communications were limited in scope and purpose, with no room for the common men and women to play their part.
It was only in March 1774 that Warren Hastings, the then Governor General of British India from 1773-1784), opened the posts to the public.
Then, came the Indian Post Office Act, 1898, based on which the postal delivery service is largely regulated in India today with necessary amendments from time to time.
Today, with a vast network of more than 155,333 post offices, the Indian postal system is said to be the largest post office system in the world.
Owning to its reach and presence even in the far-flung areas, the Indian postal service has also diversified in extending other services such as financial and banking in small savings.
However, with the advent of internet revolution posing threat to making the letter mail even obsolete, the Department of Posts which is under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has been making efforts for restructuring of its postal system with vision statement of making 'India Post a socially committed, technically driven, professionally managed and forward looking organisation' which ensure high quality mail, parcel and related services in India and throughout the globe.
Unfortunately, complaint of snail pace or delayed delivery of mails and parcels, damaged or missing of the contents inside mailed parcels, etc continues to haunt the operation of Indian postal system.
Receiving call letters for job interview or admit card for writing examinations after the due date, missing or stealing of goods from inside mailed parcels are nothing new, thus, raising serious question on the reliable of the Indian postal service and the professionalism of its employees.
Perhaps, its time for yet another around of amendment to the Indian Postal Office Act which related to exemption of the organisation and its staffs from liability for loss, misdelivery, delay or damage of any postal article in the course of transmission by post.
Because accountability is what makes a system works and as long as this is missing, it is futile to even dream about a forward looking Indian postal system.
Source : http://e-pao.net
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