National Postal Day: In India, National Postal Day or Indian Postal Day, is celebrated on the 10th of October annually, as an extension of the world post day which is celebrated on October 9.

Key Facts:

• This day commemorates the role played by the Indian postal department and its commendable services for the past 150 years, which was founded in 1854 by Lord Dalhousie.
• Indian Postal Day is a part of a week-long celebration, from 9th October to 16th October.
• Several events are held to honor the post office employees, and innovative ideas for the welfare of the India Post are also shared.

Theme of Indian Post Day 2022:

• The theme for Indian Postal Day for 2022 would be "Post for Planet."
• It will mark the importance of postal services offered by workers around the country.

Significance:

• The main purpose of Indian Postal Day is to highlight the importance of postal services in India.
• Indian postal service is an integral part of India.
• The post office delivers mails, remits money in the form of money orders (which is the only way of sending money for many Indians).
• They also run small savings schemes, provide life insurance coverage under Postal Life Insurance and Rural Postal Life Insurance.
• It also plays an important role in discharging government services such as payment of pensions to senior and retired citizens.
• Wages under MGNREGA is also distributed through post offices.
• Although the world has gone digital, people still rely on postal services for various purposes.
• The postal services in India have given the best performance despite the diversity in culture, tradition and difficult geographical terrains as well as in the recent pandemic circumstances.

• Even in the midst of the nation's pandemic emergency, postal workers risked their lives to deliver parcels promptly.
• These services were the sole means of getting medications, Covid-19 testing kits, and medical packages to all afflicted areas throughout the country's widespread epidemic.

Note: In 2018, for postal banking services the honorable Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi inaugurated India’s Post Payments Bank (IPPB).

Indian Postal Service:

• The Indian Postal Service is the government-owned postal system that operates pan-India.
• It is an integral part of the communication services in India.
• as on March 2017, India has 1,54,965 post offices in total.
• There are 23 postal circles in India, each headed by a Chief Postmaster General.
• Despite the diversity in traditional cultures and the varying rugged geographical terrain, the Indian postal service manages to do its job diligently.

About India’s PIN Code system:

• PIN in Pincode stands for Postal Index Number.
• Shriram Bhikaji Velankar, an additional secretary in the Union Ministry of Communications first introduced the 6-digit PIN system on 15 August 1972.

• The first digit of the PIN code marks the region.
• The second digit denotes the sub-region.
• The third digit marks the district.
• The last three digits show the post office under which a particular address falls.

About India Post:

• India Post was first established in 1854 by Lord Dalhousie.
• It was one of the first revolutionary steps towards improved communication in India.

History:

• The world's first official airmail flight took place in India on February 18, 1911.
• The Indian Post Office Act 1898 was passed by the legislature on March 22, 1898.
• It became active on July 1, 1898.
• In Independent India, the first official postal stamp was issued on November 21, 1947.
• The new stamp depicted the Indian flag with the patriots' slogan 'Jai Hind'.