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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
Employees417,114 (2024)[3]
Annual budget₹25,378.47 crore (US$3.0 billion) (2024–25)[4]
Ministers responsible
Department executives
  • Ms. Vandita Kaul, IPoS, Secretary, Department of Posts
  • Shri Sanjay Sharan, IPoS, Director General of Postal Services[5]
Parent DepartmentMinistry of Communications, Government of India
Child Department
Key documents
Websitewww.indiapost.gov.in

The Department of Posts, d/b/a India Post, is an Indian public sector postal system statutory body headquartered in New Delhi, India. It is an organisation 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] 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.

Apart from delivering services to general public and corporates, India Post is also proud custodian of a rich heritage of postal buildings that echo the historical evolution and architectural grandeur of bygone eras. India Post has declared 44 heritage buildings so far.

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] 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 164,972 post offices (as of 2024), 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 12 November 2024.
  4. ^ "Union Budget (2024-25) - Department of Posts" (PDF). Union Budget - Ministry of Finance. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  5. ^ "Organization Overview". India Post. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  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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