Editing India Post (section)

==History==
{{Multiple image|direction=vertical|image1=Indian postal service. Educational card, late 19th or early 20th century.jpg|caption1=Indian postal service Educational card, late 19th or early 20th century|image2=Red Scinde Dawk stamp.jpg|caption2=1850s [[Scinde Dawk]] stamp|image3=Mango Orange post office.jpg|caption3=A modern Indian post office near [[Udagamandalam]]}}
{{main|Postage stamps and postal history of India|Postage stamps and postal history of the Indian states}}

===Posts and the British Raj (1858–1947)===
The [[British Raj]] was instituted in 1858, when the [[company rule in India|rule]] of the [[East India Company]] was transferred to the Crown.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kaul|first=Chandrika|title=From Empire to Independence: The British Raj in India 1858–1947|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/independence1947_01.shtml|publisher=BBC|access-date=3 March 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/20170821-indian-postal-services-icons-modern-india-independence-day-1028886-2017-08-11|title=India Post: In letter and spirit|date=2017-08-11|website=India Today|language=en-US|access-date=2018-02-02}}</ref>

[[File:British-era letter box in Shimla, India.jpg|thumb|[[British Raj|British-era]] letter box in [[Shimla]], India.]]

A number of acts were enacted during the [[British Raj]] to expand and regulate posts and telegraphs service:
*The Government Savings Bank Act, 1873 (5 of 1873), passed by the legislature 28 January 1873, was enacted in 1881. On 1 April 1882, Post Office Savings Banks opened throughout India (except in the [[Bombay Presidency]]). In [[Madras Presidency]], it was limited; in the [[Bengal Presidency]], no POSBs were established in Calcutta or Howrah.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Government Savings Banks Act, 187 (5 of 1873) |url=https://dea.gov.in/sites/default/files/POSB_ACT_0.pdf |website=dea.gov.in |publisher=Government of India |access-date=24 April 2020 |date=28 January 1873}}</ref>
*Postal life insurance began on 1 February 1884 as a welfare measure for the employees of the Posts & Telegraphs Department as Government of India dispatch No. 299 dated 18 October 1882 to the [[Secretary of State for India|Secretary of State]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jivan |first1=Banik |title=Post Office Schemes and Services |url=https://revexpo.com/review/post-office-schemes-and-services/#Postal_Life_Insurance_PLI |work=Rev Expo |date=25 August 2018}}</ref>
*The [[Indian Telegraph Act, 1885]]
*The Indian Post Office Act, 1898,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/2329/1/A1898-06.pdf|title=Wayback Machine|website=indiacode.nic.in}}</ref> passed by the legislature on 22 March 1898, became effective on 1 July 1898 regulating postal service. It was preceded by Act III of 1882 and Act XVI of 1896.
*The Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/2396/1/A1933-17.pdf|title=Wayback Machine|website=indiacode.nic.in}}</ref>

The world's first official airmail flight took place in India on 18 February 1911, a journey of {{convert|18|km}} lasting 27 minutes. [[Henri Pequet]], a French pilot, carried about {{convert|15|kg}} of mail (approximately 6,000 letters and cards) across the [[Ganges]] from [[Allahabad]] to [[Naini]]; included in the airmail was a letter to King [[George V of the United Kingdom]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.rediff.com/india60/2007/sep/20fact.htm|work=[[Rediff]]|title=The world's highest post office!|access-date=24 April 2011}}</ref> India Post inaugurated a floating post office in August 2011 at Dal Lake in Srinagar, Kashmir.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Times of India]]|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/After-the-floods-Srinagar-faces-threat-of-epidemics/articleshow/42857485.cms|title=Srinagar gets floating post office|date=2 August 2011|access-date=7 June 2012}}</ref> [[Communications in India|Telegraphy and telephony]] made their appearance as part of the postal service before becoming separate departments. One unique [[Telegraphy|telegraph]] office was established and operated in the capital of [[Lhasa]] until the People's Republic of China's [[Annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China|annexation of Tibet]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/1941-telegrams-from-lhasa|title=1941 Telegrams Sent from Lhasa to Kathmandu|date=1941|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/1942-telegrams-from-lhasa|title=1942 Telegrams Sent from Lhasa to Kathmandu|date=1942|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/1943-telegrams-from-lhasa|title=1943 Telegrams Sent from Lhasa to Kathmandu|date=1943|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/telegramstonepal194243|title=Karuna Ratna Tuladhar Telegrams from Lhasa to Kathmandu 1942-43|date=1942}}</ref> The Posts and Telegraphs departments merged in 1914, later separated again on 1 January 1985.

===After independence in 1947===
Since [[Indian independence movement|India became independent]] in 1947, the postal service continues to function on a nationwide basis, providing a variety of services. The structure of the organization has the directorate at its apex; below it are circle offices, regional offices, the superintendent's offices, head post offices, sub-post offices and branch offices. In April 1959, the Indian Postal Department adopted the motto "Service before help"; it revised its logo in September 2008.<ref name="indiapost.gov.in">{{Cite report|url=http://www.indiapost.gov.in/Report/Annual_Report_2008-2009.pdf|title=Annual Report 2009-09|work=India Post|access-date=14 April 2016|archive-date=25 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425200104/http://indiapost.gov.in/Report/Annual_Report_2008-2009.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Yogayog Bhawan 1.jpg|thumb|Yogayog Bhawan (head office of the West Bengal wing of India Post), at Chittaranjan Avenue, [[Bowbazar]], [[Kolkata]].]]
The number of post offices was 23,344 when India became independent in 1947 and these were primarily in urban areas. The number increased to 165,000 {{As of|2016|alt=in}} 2025 and 90% of these were in rural areas.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.indiapost.gov.in/VAS/Pages/AboutUs/PostOfficeNetwork.aspx |work=India Post|title=Post Office Network}}</ref>