President conveys his appreciation and admiration for India’s unparalleled postal network.

Shri Pranab Mukherjee, the President of India held a meeting with Shri Ravishankar Prasad, Minister for Communications and IT at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on 20th May 2016, in which the central topic of discussion was the ongoing transformation of the postal network. The President enquired about the modernisation project, and was happy to learn about how the induction of IT was making service delivery at post offices contemporary. He also used the occasion to convey his fondness and admiration for the postal network to the postal staff, through the Minister.

File photo of President Mukherjee with Minister Prasad at a stamp release function in October 2014. Courtesy: www.prokerala.com

Details of this interaction with the President were revealed by Shri Prasad himself, during his keynote address on 22^nd May 2016, at the Conference of the Heads of Postal Circles at Hyderabad.

There have been a few other occasions in the past also when the Department has had the opportunity to benefit from President Mukherjee words of guidance and came in for praise from him. While inaugurating an international postal event at New Delhi’s Vigyan Bhavan in 2013, he had commended the unparalleled network of the Post Office and advised that there is a huge scope for postal services to be engaged in e-commerce, and that it should capitallise on the rising demand for such business products. On that occasion, he had also highlighted the need to move with the times, and said that globalization and easier movement of workforce across nations have opened a great window of opportunity for the postal sector in parcel and money remittance businesses. Further, he had emphasised that worldwide, postal administrations enjoy the trust of people and advised that the Post Office must leverage this and other strengths to provide improved quality of service to the people.

Inauguration of the new building of the Rashtrapati Bhavan PO 

in July 2014. Photo courtesy: Exposeindialive.com

It is no surprise then that hearing from the Minister about developments like the networking of post offices, postal savings coming on a CBS platform and the Post Office preparing to set up a Payments Bank would have been a matter of satisfaction for him. His sending a message a message to the postal staff through the Minister is a rare gesture, which is sure to inspire them to higher standards of service delivery.

The words of appreciation from the President represent the increasing significance of the Postal network in the national mainstream and in public perception. With it also comes a higher responsibility for the management and staff of India Post, the responsibility of living up to the expectations of the country’s First Citizen.

Postal official from Mumbai nominated coach of national sumo team

The 450,000 strong postal family is known to include numerous talents in varied pursuits like sports, fine arts and literature. But even in such a talent pool of notable diversity, the emergence of a technical expert of international eminence in the field sumo wrestling draws disbelief. “What? A sumo coach from the Post Office?” is the typical reaction of people who are introduced to Chandrashekhar Shinde.

The familiar neighbourhood post office and the exotic dohyo of sumo wrestling appear to be worlds apart. But not so for Shinde, or Shekhar, as he is known to his friends. Balancing his regular work at the Post Office with his passion for the sport of wrestling, he has made a name for himself, first as a much feared wrestler, later as a sharp-eyed Referee, and thereafter as a respected Coach.

Growing up in Satara District in a village famed for wrestlers, the natural favourite among childhood games for Shekhar was wrestling. After being selected as a Postal Assistant in the Department of Posts, the Departmental wrestling competitions became his hunting ground and he won numerous medals for Maharashtra Postal Circle. The Youth Commonwealth Games 2008 where he was nominated as an official was a turning point, and his vast experience and technical knowledge of the sport came up for high praise. His selection as a Referee (Technical Officer) in the Commonwealth Games of 2010 was a natural progression from there.

The establishment of the Indian Sumo Wrestling Association (ISWA) was another turning point for him, and he was found to have a natural affinity for sumo wrestling. Since wrestling and sumo wrestling are both played to common rules, Shekhar was able to adapt his skills and proficiency in the former to the latter. Recognitions followed him, a notably one being the nomination as the Secretary of the Maharashtra State unit secretary of the ISWA.

The recent announcement nominating him as the Coach of the national sumo team for the International SUMO Wrestlers Tournament to be held in California, USA from 19^th May, 2016 comes as another acknowledgement of his skills. As Shekhar prepares to cross the seas for this important assignment, Mumbai Postal Region feels a sense of pride, about one of their own having made it big in the international sporting arena.

Fare well, friend! Keep the Postal flag flying high!

CR Pakrashi: Brilliance Stamped for Posterity

CR Pakrashi, well known artist and leading stamp designer, left us on 16^th March 2016 at the age of 95. During his association with the Department of Posts that lasted many decades, he produced some brilliant stamp designs that now form a proud part of our philatelic heritage. Sankha Samanta, fellow artist and stamp designer, reflects on the teacher –pupil equation that he shared with the senior.

Picture courtesy www.dnaindia.com

Some time back in the late 1980s at the headquarters of the Department of Posts, I was introduced by the Director Philately to a remarkable gentleman whom I came to look up to as a guide and philosopher. He was Chitta Ranjan Pakrashi, who had to his credit the designs of some of the most beautiful stamps issued by India Post, which I had always admired. I was then a young artist myself, freshly out of Delhi Art College having done Post Graduation in Fine Arts, and was a newly empanelled Postage Stamp designer of Department of Posts.

For me then, Pakrashi  Sir was an icon. However that awe was soon made to diminish by him himself during our conversation. I was amazed that a man of his stature, age and experience could be so simple and full of grace. Later I was surprised that he knew my family also, as my father who is an artist of his generation was known to him. In our nearly 3 decades of association I would often exchange notes about stamp designs with a view to improve the designing standard of postage stamps.

Of the 54 stamps he designed  from 1956 to 2008, the one that I admire the most is his first which was issued in 1956 on the occasion of the 2500th Buddha Jayanti. The Stamp depicts a stylized Bodhi tree on a full moon night. Buddha attained enlightenment when he went into deep meditation during a full-moon night under a Bodhi tree. The simple single sepia colour stamp plays with the negative spaces of the paper white in such a way that it shimmers with light, across the half concentric patterns of the Bodhi leaves in two radiating rows. The deliberate focus on single leaf in the centre of the image creates a trance that is experienced in meditation. The stamp blends the moonlit night, Enlightenment, tranquility, peace and celebration in an extraordinary design format. I assume he could have achieved this only after elaborate research and after the process of elimination of all that is not necessary (a fundamental aspect of Stamp Designing process). Like his own persona, his designs reflect  simplicity.

The other stamps which are landmarks in his extraordinary journey are the Jai Bangla stamp issued in 1973 to commemorate the first parliament session of Bangladesh, the 1982 INPEX stamp depicting railway mail service wagon and the  J.R.D. Tata stamp issued in 1994. Of course, this is a subjective selection and many more among his designs could be described as outstanding. Each of these designs can be analyzed in great detail as each design is embedded with a history of research, devotion to the art form, sensitive handling of the subject and great dexterity in doing the artwork.

Chitta Ranjan Pakrashi  was a man of many talents. And like a guiding star he left us with a book written by him. Titled A Stamp is Born, it was released on 6 May 2014 by the Vice President of India, M Hamid  Ansari.

Today as a stamp designer, I miss his valuable advice, and as somebody who had the fortune to be close enough to him, I will always cherish the moments of love and affection he gave me all these years.

Staff of GPO Mumbai Discuss Gender Issues Threadbare at Workplace Seminar

Q&A session by HC Patel

Government of India (GoI), the country’s largest employer with nearly 4.5 million employees in its fold, is also known to be a benevolent employer that upholds its special duties to its personnel. It is no surprise then that GoI has laid down elaborate provisions to promote gender equality in general and to prevent instances of sexual harassment in particular, at its workplaces.

Despite these provisions, gender issues do arise, and women employees many a time find themselves at the receiving end of these issues. The general reluctance to discuss the topic of Sexual Harassment, though it occasionally raises its head at government offices, adds to the challenge of eliminating it altogether.

Mumbai GPO, true to its reputation as a forward- looking institution, recently took the initiative of organising a seminar for its staff on Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace.  A large number of employees of the 1000-strong GPO attended the Seminar, which was held in an atmosphere of esprit de corps and team spirit. The Seminar progressed through screening of relevant videos, discussions and a Q&A session. 

H. C. Patel, Senior Dy. Director of the GPO led the discussions, and was supported by other Dy. Directors. There was significant attendance of the women employees. The success of the Seminar was that the participants recognised and accepted the fact that sexual harassment was a common problem faced by all staff, the prevention of which was a shared goal for all irrespective of whether they are male or female.

The Department of Posts (DoP) has a special responsibility in the fight against sexual harassment, as it has the highest rate of women employment among all the major employers within GoI. While the percentage of women employment across all units of the Central Government is only 11%,  DoP stands out, with 17.3% of its employees being women. In this context the Seminar was indeed a laudable effort, and one looks forward to other units of DoP emulating it.

Post Office honours the national body of architects with a Commemorative Cover

The Department of Posts released a Special Commemorative Cover on 12th May 2016 at Mumbai to mark the commencement of the centenary celebrations of Indian Institute of Architects (IIA), the national body of Architects in the country. 

The journey of the Indian Institute Of Architects began on 12th May 1917. On that day the past students of Sir J J School of Arts, Bombay met in the sylvan surroundings of the school and formed what was then called the Architectural Students Association. 

VVS Reddy, Director GPO releases the Special  Cover

The institute evolved over the decades and today, plays a major role in promoting the profession and practice of architecture in the country. Even as contemporary Indian architecture grapples with challenges like population explosion, lack of vision among the planners, a less than satisfactory standard of architecture education, inadequate funding and the existential dilemma of “Revivalism vs. Modernism”, IIA holds the fort with self assurance,  promoting aesthetic, scientific and practical efficiency of the profession both in Practice and Education.

Dignitaries with the Special Cover albums

The Department of Posts released a Special Commemorative Cover on 12th May 2016 to celebrate the fruitful journey of IIA. Titled “The Indian Institute of Architects 1917-2017”, the Cover was released at Sir J J College of Architecture, Mumbai by VVS Reddy, Director Mumbai GPO and presented to Divya Kush, President of IIA and Vilas Avachat, Vice President, IIA.

Special Covers are valued collectibles across the world. They are collected, exchanged and traded by philatelists globally. They also get exhibited as part of carefully curated collections, thus propagating the message of the subjects commemorated on them around the world.