World Post Day 2019: Date, Significance And History

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9 October marks the World Post Day and it is celebrated every year to raise awareness about the postal services in the country and the vital role they play in everyone's lives and businesses. On this day in the year 1874, the Universal Postal Union was established in Bern (Switzerland) and in 1967, Universal Postal Union Congress (Japan) officially declared the day as the World Post Day.

The Indian post was established around 150 years ago and is considered as the backbone of the country. All the banking documents, parcel, insurance services and money transfer are carried out by the post services and that's why it is the largest postal network worldwide.

Significance Of World Post Day

The World Post Day holds its own significance which is as follows:

• To ensure a worldwide network of advanced products and services.
• To increase awareness of the role of postal services for people and business.
• To thank people for their contribution to the economic development of the country.
• To recognise postal workers and appreciate their effort for delivering posts without any climatic or geographical barrier.
• To encourage people to carry out certain programmes or activities and make people and media aware of its role on a national level.

History Of World Post Day

Very long ago, people used to send and receive letters through messengers who travelled miles to deliver them. They either travelled on foot or horseback to deliver messages to people. Then in the 16th and 17th century, the national postal system was started in which mails between countries were exchanged through bilateral agreements. With the start of the eighties, the postal service became inefficient and complicated due to its expansion.

In 1863, Postmaster General of the US, Montgomery Blair, organized a conference in which delegates from 15 European and American countries proposed many general principles during the conference for mutual agreements on the international postal services. In spite of that, the International Postal Agreement was not created.

Eleven years later on 15 September 1874, a senior postal official of the North German Confederation, Heinrich von Stephan reorganized a conference in Switzerland with representatives from 22 countries. Later in the same year on October 9, the 'Treaty of Berne' was signed by the delegates and finally, General Postal Union was established.

In 1878, its name was changed to 'Universal Postal Union' and in 1948, the postal became one of specialized agencies of the United Nations. On the 16th Universal Postal Union meeting in Tokyo, the World Post Day was finally declared by the delegates.

Things To Do On World Post Day

• Surprise your loved ones with a letter.
• Thank a mail carrier for their effort.
• Organize a program to make people aware of the importance of postal services in the country.
• Organize a special class to teach school children about postal services.
• Organize an international letter-writing competition.