9th October: World Post Day

RANJAN K BARUAH

Let there be last mile reach through post

One of the popular hobbies during our childhood days was philately. Philately is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. Many of us still remember the postman who would deliver our letters and more importantly the money order being sent to us when we were in hostels. In the digital age one may not realize the importance of postal services but it has been part and partial of many of us till the digital revolution and the booming of social media and especially internet.

We should know that the first known postal document, found in Egypt, dates from 255 BC. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the exchange of mail between countries was largely governed by bilateral postal agreements. But by the 19th century, the web of bilateral agreements had become so complex that it began to impede the rapidly developing trade and commercial sectors. Order and simplification were needed in the international postal services.

The process was started by national postal reforms. The most noteworthy reform occurred in England in 1840, when Sir Rowland Hill introduced a system whereby postage on letters had to be prepaid. Furthermore, uniform rates were charged for all letters of a certain weight in the domestic service, regardless of the distance travelled. Sir Rowland Hill was also credited with introducing the world’s first postage stamp.

The global data says that over 1.5 billion people worldwide – approximately 28% of the global adult population – access basic financial services (payments, money transfers, and savings) through postal networks. The global parcels market has grown from just under 450 billion USD in 2018 to over 500 billion USD in 2020.

53% of post offices in the world provide insurance, a critical financial service to strengthen the resilience of low-income individuals faced with irregular and unpredictable levels of revenue. With a network comprising more than 650,000 offices and 5.3 million staff globally, and a public service mandate from many governments, the Post is unparalleled in its ability to deliver services to anyone, anywhere.

The entire postal system is unique though private courier services have put the traditional government postal services on the back foot. It is time to innovate, integrate and make more inclusion. World Post Day (WPD) is celebrated each year on 9 October, the anniversary of the establishment of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in 1874 in the Swiss Capital, Bern. It was declared WPD by the UPU Congress held in Tokyo, Japan in 1969. Since then, countries across the world participate annually in the celebrations. The Posts in many countries use the event to introduce or promote new postal products and services.

This year WPD’s theme is “Post for People: Local Service. Global Reach”. The campaign highlights the Post as a vital public service rooted in communities and driven by people. The purpose of WPD is to create awareness of the role of the postal sector in people’s and businesses’ everyday lives and its contribution to the social and economic development of countries. Every year, more than 150 countries celebrate WPD in a variety of ways.

Established in 1874, the UPU, with its headquarters in Berne, Switzerland, is the second oldest international organization worldwide (after the International Telecommunication Union, ITU); it coordinates postal policies among member nations, in addition to the worldwide postal system, and became on 1 July 1948 a specialized agency of the United Nations.

The United Nations is the only organization in the world which is neither a country nor a territory that is permitted to issue postage stamps. It is also the only postal authority to issue stamps in three different currencies, namely U.S. dollars, Swiss francs and Euro. The first United Nations stamps were issued in U.S. dollar denominations on United Nations Day, 24 October, in 1951.  UN stamps have illustrated the aims and achievements of the United Nations and its family of organizations.

António Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations in his message on the occasion said that “post is a service by people, for people. Today and every day, we thank postal workers and recommit to supporting a strong, sustainable postal service for communities and for our world.”

In spite of having challenges due to technological advancement postal services can be innovated and more inclusion can be there. The Indian Postal Department has already diversified and initiated new programmes but more are needed if we would safeguard the services. The Indian postal network, operated by the Department of Posts (India Post), is the largest postal network in the world, with over 164999 post offices serving all of India.

Like me many would be looking for the post box which could be seen all over the country till recently but nowadays we don’t see those red post boxes where  we used to drop the letters . Let there be more innovation so that the postal networks could be used for many other activities or the welfare of the people of the country.

(With direct inputs from UN publications. Email: bkranjan@gmail.com)