WORLD POST DAY, 9 OCTOBER

WORLD POST DAY ( by Bibhuprasad Mohapatra )

“Writing letter is also an art. I have to write letter and have to write only the truth in it, and have to pour love, if with this thought you sit down to write the letter, then you will definitely write a beautiful one.”- Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)

Now it’s the era of email, SMS (Short Message Services) and MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service). Still the world of letters is unique. Gwalior born Hindi poet Girija Kumar Mathur (22^nd Aug 1919-10^th Jan 1994) wrote:

“Letter is like a personal newspaper at home

Support of the loner

It’s a sign of happiness

Love and friendship.”

“Meghdoot” of the greatest Sanskrit poet and dramatist Kalidasa (5^th century AD), Nobel laureate (Literature, 1907) Rudyard Kipling’s (1865-1936) poetry “The Overland Mail”, Nobel laureate (Literature, 1913) Rabindranath Tagore’s (1861-1941) play “The Post Office”, Indian writer Mulk Raj Anand’s (1905-2004) book “Story of the Indian Post Office”, American singer and actor Elvis Presley’s (1935-1977) song “Return to Sender” have illustrated the glory of letters.

These random and sudden thoughts are coming to us on “World Post Day”. The day is celebrated globally each year on 9th October, which marks the anniversary of the establishment of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in 1874 in the Swiss capital, Bern.The Universal Postal Union was the start of global communications revolution, people could write to others all over the world.

It was declared as ‘World Post Day’ by the UPU Congress held in Tokyo, Japan, in 1969. Since then, World Post Day is celebrated all over the world to highlight the importance of the postal services.

The purpose of World Post Day is to raise awareness among common men about the role of the postal sector in people’s and businesses’ everyday lives and its contribution to the social and economic development of countries. The celebration encourages member countries to undertake programme activities aimed at generating a broader awareness of their Post’s role and activities among the public and media on a national scale.

Every year, above 150 countries celebrate World Post Day in a variety of ways. In certain countries, World Post Day is observed as a working holiday. Many Posts use the event to introduce or promote new postal products and services. Some Posts also use World Post Day to reward their employees for good service.

In many countries, philatelic exhibitions are organized and new stamps and date cancellation marks are issued. Other activities include the display of World Post Day posters in post offices and other public places, open days at post offices, mail centers and postal museums, the holding of conferences, seminars and workshops, as well as cultural, sport and other recreational activities. Many postal administrations issue special souvenirs such as T-shirts and badges.

With the support of massive network, the reach of the Postal department is in every corner of the world. The development of postal service took place rapidly in all the areas of the world since 1^st half of 20^th century. It seems to us that Post is nothing but “The other name of extreme trust” of the common people.

On this auspicious day, it is time to think and work as per the terms of Ex-Communication Minister:

“How we can serve the consumer best, this should be the highest duty of every Post and Telegraph worker. Frugality is essential but it should not be at the cost of work ability.” (3^rd May 1971, Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna(1919-1989))

Again according to Gandhiji, “For us every consumer is an important person. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is the purpose of our work…We do not oblige him by doing his service. He obliges us by giving us the opportunity to serve.”

                     

With Regards

Sri Bibhuprasad Mohapatra

Department of Post, India

Email-padmacharan123@gmail.com
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