World Postal Day will be observed tomorrow, 9 October. Like other countries of the world, the Department of Posts will celebrate this day through various programs in Bangladesh. The theme of this day is ‘Post for Planet’. In Bengali it translates as: Post office for the world. On October 9, 1874, the ‘Universal Postal Union’ was formed at an international conference held in Bern, Switzerland, with the participation of representatives of 22 countries. Later on, October 9, 1969, was declared as World Postal Day by passing a resolution raised by this organization at the United Nations. Bangladesh became a member of Universal Postal Union (UPU) and International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in 1973 under the leadership of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Since then, World Postal Day has been celebrated every year in the country. On this occasion, a discussion meeting and letter writing competition and a special discussion program on Bangladesh Radio and Television were organized by the Directorate of Posts. Post and Telecommunication Minister Mustafa Jabba made a statement on the occasion of the day.
Highlighting the significance of the World Postal Day in a statement today, the minister said, “Our biggest challenge was to take the distressed postal service to a better position as the age of letters was over.” We’ve already done a lot in this regard. Post office has now become a reliable institution for e-commerce. Pointing out that no other institution in the country has as vast the infrastructure and manpower as the post offices nationwide have, the minister said that there is no alternative to the post office to deliver daily essential products including frozen foods to remote and inaccessible areas. The minister highlighted the contribution of the postal service in delivering the fruits and vegetables of the farmers to the delivery of medical equipment during the Corona pandemic. The post office was not closed even for a day under emergency services. In the post office digitization journey, senders and customers can track the latest location or delivery information of postal items. In the continuation of the post office digitization process, by scanning the barcode attached to the postal item through the points of sales machine, the customers can easily identify the location of their postal item by scanning the barcode and completing the booking by attaching the photo of the address of the sender with the necessary information input. Also, digital serial system has been introduced in important post offices including Dhaka GPO for the convenience of customers.
He said, “Under the direction of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, we are creating a road map for post office digitization to establish a postal system suitable for the digital age. It will be implemented soon. Already 14 sorting centers are being constructed and digitized. At the same time, we have taken the initiative to introduce chilling vans in rail chilling coaches and other postal vehicles. Apart from digitizing the postal system, we have started the work of digitizing the post office by imparting digital skills to the 45,000 employees. As a result, the basis of digitization of production-oriented activities has been created. With the implementation of this master plan prepared by the officials of the postal department along with the related experts, the postal service will soon be raised to the desired level.”
The minister highlighted the contribution of the postal service in delivering the medical equipment, starting from the transport of farmers’ fruits and vegetables during the Corona period. His decision to keep all the GPOs, main post offices of the country open on a limited basis for public interest during the Corona period was a very effective step to keep people’s life going. At the same time, digital-commerce in a limited form as well as post office savings bank transactions in a special arrangement from all these post offices. It was decided to keep the counters open for providing mobile money order and parcel services. The Bangladesh Postal Department has sent the Corona virus treatment equipment, PPE, kits and mass awareness leaflets from the capital’s Tejgaon central dispensary free of charge across the country. The “Mujib Year-2020” announced by the government on the occasion of the birth centenary of the father of the nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, is part of the celebration with due dignity. As part of the program organized by the Department of Posts and Telecommunications, I am proud to witness the history of the Department of Posts by issuing commemorative stamps, souvenir sheets, albums and sheetlets on various themes from 17th March-2020 to the Golden Jubilee of Independence.