Bangladesh Post Office: Difference between revisions

 

In 1971, during the [[Bangladesh Liberation War]], the [[Provisional Government of Bangladesh]], established a postal service with 50 field offices located near the border with India in areas under full or partial control of the [[Mukti Bahini]].<ref name=":0" /> Barrister [[Moudud Ahmed]], future Prime Minister of Bangladesh, was the first post master general of Bangladesh.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Feroze |first=Shahriar |date=2014-12-16 |title=That unsung 'Philatelic war' ... |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/that-unsung-philatelic-war-55642 |access-date=2023-05-27 |work=The Daily Star |language=en}}</ref> Biman Mullick designed the first eight stamps of Bangladesh during the war including one with a photo of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=The First Eight Stamps |url=https://www.bimanmullick.com/the-first-eight-stamps/ |access-date=2023-05-27 |website=Biman Mullick |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |title=::: Star Campus ::: |url=https://archive.thedailystar.net/campus/2007/01/02/feature_stamps.htm |access-date=2023-05-27 |magazine=Star Campus}}</ref> The government of Pakistan outlawed the eight stamps.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2018-03-20 |title=A day at the post office |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/lifestyle/spotlight/day-the-post-office-1549996 |access-date=2023-05-27 |work=The Daily Star |language=en}}</ref> The provisional government also used overprinted stamps stolen by an officer from the general post office in Dhaka.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Muktijuddho (Bangladesh Liberation War 1971) - first postage stamps of Bangladesh - History of Bangladesh |url=http://www.londoni.co/index.php/23-history-of-bangladesh/1971-muktijuddho/155-muktijuddho-bangladesh-liberation-war-1971-first-postage-stamps-of-bangladesh-history-of-bangladesh |access-date=2023-05-27 |website=www.londoni.co}}</ref> A.M. Ahsanullah was the first director general of the post office.<ref name=":1" /> The field offices were merged with the existing postal service after the Independence of Bangladesh.<ref name=":0" /> During the war, 120 offices of the post office were destroyed and more than 200 officials were killed.<ref name=":0" /> Bangladesh Post Office started with 6667 offices and nearly 25 thousand personnel.<ref name=":0" /> Local post offices were ordered to rubber stamp Bangladesh on existing inventory of Pakistan stamps.<ref name=":1" /> On 19 February 1984, the Guaranteed Express Post was started.<ref name=":0" /> On 30 January 1985 a post museum was established in Dhaka.<ref name=":0" /> On 22 December 1986, postal codes were introduced in Bangladesh and in the same year a postal academy was established in Rajshahi.<ref name=":0" />

 

[[Bangladesh Government Press]] prints forms and files for Bangladesh Post Department.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Khan |first=Mizanur |title=Postal services fall into disarray |url=https://archive.thedailystar.net/2004/05/05/d405052501122.htm |access-date=2023-05-27 |work=The Daily Star}}</ref> On 8 July 2015, ABM Humayun was appointed director general of Bangladesh Post Office.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2015-07-08 |title=New DG for Bangladesh Post Office |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/business/new-dg-bangladesh-post-office-109054 |access-date=2023-05-27 |work=The Daily Star |language=en}}</ref> According to ''The Daily Star'' in 2017, various post offices in Bangladesh were in dilapidated conditions with limited equipment and poor operating conditions.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Molla |first=Mohammad Al-Masum |date=2017-10-09 |title=Barely surviving, yet serving |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/barely-surviving-yet-serving-1473550 |access-date=2023-05-27 |work=The Daily Star |language=en}}</ref> This was due to falling usage of the postal services especially declining number of personnel letters due to alternate modes of communication such as the internet.<ref name=":2" /> There were 9886 post offices and around 40,000 employees in 2017.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=Roy |first=Pinaki |last2=Molla |first2=Mohammad Al-Masum |date=2017-10-09 |title=Down but not out |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/down-not-out-1473553 |access-date=2023-05-27 |work=The Daily Star |language=en}}</ref> Letters sent by the post office declined from 410 million in 1982–1983 to only 50 million in 2015-2016 fiscal year.<ref name=":3" />