Gaya post office decked up on the occasion of World Post Day. Picture by Suman

Patna, Oct. 9: In an era when communication can be done in nanoseconds, the snail mails still hold relevance for many.

To acknowledge the importance of postal services in our daily lives and the development in this sector, October 9, is celebrated as World Post Day. Moreover, the Bihar circle of department of posts would be organising various events from today till October 14 as part of National Postal Week.

The postal department, however, is trying to do some catching up with the fast developing technologies by inculcating certain web- and Internet-based technologies in its services.

“Though Internet and social networking have become common these days, one still prefers to send physical greeting cards to friends and relatives during festivals and special occasions. Applications and admit cards for most of the competitive examinations are sent or received though postal mails only. Moreover, even today most of the official communications between government departments are being done through postal mails. Thus, the role of the postal services cannot be ignored,” said Roshan Parmar, a student of Patna Institute of Technology.

“World Post Day is celebrated today across the world under the aegis of Universal Postal Union, to celebrate the anniversary of its establishment in 1874 in the Swiss capital, Bern. Today we organised a programme in Gaya division, where a few loyal consumers, agents and employees of the postal department were felicitated,” said Anil Kumar, director, postal services (business development, technology and marketing), Bihar.

Talking about the technological advancement in the postal sector, Anil said: “Internet availability in India is limited to less than five per cent. Despite that we have introduced several web-based postal services like e-post, e-payment, web-based domestic and international money transfers among others.”

Anil also informed about the various events, which would be organised during the National Postal Week, commencing today.

“To spread awareness on postal products and also to sell them, we would be organising around 20 to 30 Dak Melas and customers’ meet across various divisions of the postal department in Bihar. We would also be organising various events, including stamp design competitions, Philately quiz and visits to post offices for children to make them aware of the journey of postal mails,” he said.

Apart from celebrations of post day and postal week, postal department is also promoting the rich Bihar heritage.