India Post

India Post
Official logo of India Post
Department overview
Formed1 October 1854 (1854-10-01)[1][2]
HeadquartersDak Bhawan, Sansad Marg, New Delhi
Employees403,678 (March 2022)[3]
Annual budget25,814 crore (US$3.1 billion) (2023–24)[4]
Minister responsible
Department executives
  • Ms. Vandita Kaul (IPoS: 1989), Secretary, Department of Posts, IPoS
  • Ms. Smita Kumar (IPoS:1987), Director General (Posts), IPoS[5]
Parent DepartmentDepartment of Post, Ministry of Communication, Government of India
Child Department
Key document
Websitewww.indiapost.gov.in
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India Post is an Indian government-operated postal system in India, and is the trade name of the Department of Post under the Ministry of Communications. Generally known as the Post Office, it is the most widely distributed postal system in the world, and India is the country that has the largest number of post offices in the world.[6] Warren Hastings had taken initiative under East India Company to start the Postal Service in the country in 1766. It was initially established under the name "Company Mail". It was later modified into a service under the Crown in 1854 by Lord Dalhousie. Dalhousie introduced uniform postage rates (universal service) and helped to pass the India Post Office Act 1854 which significantly improved upon 1837 Post Office act which had introduced regular post offices in India.[7] It created the position Director General of Post for the whole country.[8][9]

It is involved in delivering mail (post), remitting money by money orders, accepting deposits under Small Savings Schemes, providing life insurance coverage 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 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. With 154,965 post offices (as of March 2017), India Post is the widest 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, At 4,400m above sea level in northern India's remote Spiti Valley, the Hikkim post office is a vital connection to the outside world.[10]

  1. ^ "GPO: awaiting restoration". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 8 May 2003. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  2. ^ "Postal Network and System". india.gov.in. Retrieved 5 April 2019.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ "Annual Report 2022-23" (PDF). India Post. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  4. ^ "Union Budget (2023-24) - Department of Posts" (PDF). Union Budget - Ministry of Finance. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  5. ^ "Organization Overview". India Post. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  6. ^ "INDIA is the country that has the largest number of post offices in the world". Brainly. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  7. ^ "Chapter - IV Administration of the Post Office" (PDF). Shodhganga. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  8. ^ Das, M. N.; Das, M. M. (1958). "Dalhousie and the Reform of the Postal System". Indian History Congress. 21 (21): 488–495. JSTOR 44145245.
  9. ^ Grover B.L. & Mehta Alka (2018). A New Look at Modern Indian History (From 1707 to The Modern Times), 32e. S. Chand Publishing. pp. 163–. ISBN 978-93-5253-434-0.
  10. ^ "The world's highest post office". BBC. Retrieved 25 April 2023.

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