Suggestions for India Post: Subhash Chandra Agrawal

Guest post by SUBHASH CHANDRA AGARWAL

Photo credit: Aditya Bhelke

1.      All postal-tariffs should be generally in multiples of rupees five with Speed Post tariff being universal at rupees fifteen or twenty for every 50-gms rise in weight abolishing differential tariff of rupees 12 for local and rupees 25 for non-local mail-articles. Considering sharp decline in use of inland-letter-cards and post-cards, sponsored Meghdoot post-card should be priced at rupee one abolishing loss-giving Inland-Letter card and ordinary post-cards altogether.

2.      Foreign-mail tariffs should have equal tariff-rise for every 20-gms rise in weight-slab for Air Mail, and 50-gms rise in slab-weight for Surface or Sea Mail abolishing present cumbersome system to impose Air Surcharge on already haphazard tariff-system for Surface Mail.

3.      Special RTI stamp on lines of revenue-stamps should be introduced for users of the Right to Information Act to save huge handling cost of rupees 22.71 on handling of a postal-order worth rupees ten presently used as RTI fees.

4.      Postal-orders should be new-look payable at par at all post-offices with minimum denomination of rupees 20, adding more denominations like of rupees 200 and 500.

5.      ‘My Stamp’ concept of INDIPEX-2011 should be made a revenue-generating permanent concept by accepting messages and advertisements from advertisers on some minimum print-quantity of postage stamps. Idea will bring back users from private courier service to postal service.

6.      Stamps of all denominations of a new definitive series should be released simultaneously together with a complete set of postal stationary on a particular theme on first day of new financial year (1^st April) every year which should also be date for introduction of any new postal tariff announced earlier in Union Budget presented on last day of February.

7.      Present system of issuing commemorative stamps in denomination of rupees 15 should be changed to that of rupees 10 because an RTI reply reveals that most commonly used denominations are rupees 5 and 10.

8.      Since users of different denominations of stamps are different, a stamp-sheet must have only one denomination of stamps unlike presently where a sheet at times also has stamps of two or more denominations.

9.      Some highly dignified, non-controversial and non-political legendaries like Lata Mangeshkar should be given special honour by portraying them on stamps in their life-time. Selection of such legendaries should be rare with consent of all major political parties in the Parliament to avoid misuse.

10.  Miniature sheets should be extra charged more than face-value of stamps because of excessive printing costs and being a collectors’ item rather than for general use as postage stamps.

11.  Schools and colleges should be motivated to give philatelic items and coin-sets in place of trophies etc.

12.  Philately as subject should also be introduced in school text-books.

(Subhash Chandra Agrawal is a well-known RTI activist based in Delhi. You can follow India Post on Twitter on Twitter – @PostOfficeIndia.)