India has formally closed the mail delivery system of red post boxes which was working over more than 50 years. The centuries old system of handwritten letters sent across the country through postmen in khaki uniforms and carrying canvas bags is history now. To most Indians this is not just the end of a service, but an end of an era.
Handwritten Letters to Digital Text
There was a time when a postman’s knock brought happiness and good news. Exam results, wedding invitations, job offer letters, rakhi sent by sisters and even money orders were carried in letters. Postmen were not only messengers in the country, but they became community people, reading letters too, filling in forms, or handing the letter.
Today, with smartphones and internet access communication happens instantly. The inland letters are substituted by email. WhatsApp and social media made long distance relationships easy with everyday talks. The magic of getting a real letter slowly started to evaporate and the previously developed system of mail delivery started reducing.
India Post, under the Ministry of Communications, is one of the world’s oldest and largest postal networks. Formally founded in 1854, it became a giant with more than 1.5 lakh post offices, of which majority were in rural areas. Millions depended on the mail delivery system especially after the 1970s. Postmen used to walk in the forest, cross rivers and walk miles to deliver one piece of paper.
The service was particularly important where telephones were a luxury. The soldiers could only communicate to their families through letters, the students could only keep in touch with their parents through it while families living miles apart would be connected with it.
Reason for the Shutdown?
The official withdrawal of the regular mail delivery system did not happen overnight. Over the last twenty years, the volumes of mail have reduced drastically. The COVID-19 pandemic boosted the digital move. Even the government communication, which was initially delivered using the post, is now largely done using SMS, email or digital portals.
Moreover, logistics and e-commerce have become completely different in today’s digital age. The parcel services have shifted to courier companies and app-based deliveries. Due to this the India Post had started to focus on banking services, logistics support, and digital financial inclusion via its India Post Payments Bank.
Because of this change, the original purpose of the letter-carrying postman was becoming non-functional. The frequency of mail delivery has fallen to once a week or less in many places. As the result, the operating costs increased and returns dropped, the government could not do anything more than officially shutting down the service.
Conclusion
Although the delivery of mails has increased, India Post is not shutting down but it’s transforming. The postal department is serving as a help center in various ways with services such as doorstep banking, Aadhaar updates, parcel services and rural digital outreach.
Nevertheless, to the people who have had experience in the pre-digital era, the end of the old-style mail delivery is a sentimental farewell. In this world that is charging towards faster, sleeker communication, maybe we have also lost a little bit of patience, warmth and the human touch that letters used to have. The postman will not be knocking twice anymore-but his memory will.
