Today is World Post Day. World Post Day is observed every year on October 9. World Post Day is marked to spread awareness about the significant role people engaged in postal services play. World Post Day is a great opportunity to pay tribute to the postal operators, postal workers and everyone involved in delivering mails. Historically posts have a big contribution to the development of businesses and economic activities globally. The Universal Postal Union (UPU) paved the way for efficient postal services and it became an agency of the United Nations in 1948. 

Before the digital communication came into our lives, sending letters by post was the only option and if it was an urgent message – it was the telegraph, which revolutionized long-distance communication. It worked by transmitting electrical signals over a wire laid between stations. 

“We all need to recognize the incredible sacrifices made by postal operators and their staff during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Deemed essential staff as the pandemic raged furiously across the world, these postal workers labored hard to deliver the mail. Some workers tragically lost their lives; others confronted life-changing damage to their health. Many more suffered in numerous other ways…,” Director General of the Universal Postal Union, Bishar Hussein said in his message on World Post Day.

World Post Day 2020: Interesting facts 

• The first World Post Day was celebrated in 1969
• The proposal was submitted by Anand Mohan Narula, a member of Indian delegation
• The Universal Postal Union founded in 1874
• The headquarters of the UPU is at Bern in Switzerland
• The highest post office in world is at Hikkim in Himachal Pradesh
• The first post office in India was established by the East India Company in 1774 in Kolkata 
• The post office charged two annas per 100 miles 
• The landmark General Post Office in Kolkata was built in 1864 

In the year of pandemic a big ‘thank you’ to all personnel associated with the postal services. Postal workers have braved natural disasters, risked their lived in conflict zones to deliver not only letters but also essential items, medicines, food and protective gear for ‘corona warriors’ battling the Covid-19 pandemic in the frontlines. This year the postal industry “showed the world its resilience, its determination, and the invaluable role it plays in every society. We showed we are more than mail,” UPU Director General said.