India 2018

Communications and Information Technology 101
8
Communications and
Information Technology
COMMUNICATIONS and information technology in the country are handled
by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and Ministry of
Communications. The Ministry of Electronics and Technology promotes e-
governance and sustainable growth of the electronics, IT and ITeS industries,
enhancing India's role in internet governance while the Ministry of
Communications looks after the Department of Posts and Department of
Telecommunications. Main activities and initiatives of these departments are
given here.
Posts
The modern postal system, the most preferred facilitator of communication,
was established in India by Lord Clive in 1766 and it was further developed by
Warren Hastings in1774. The expansion of its network was made during 1786
to 1793. For the first time, the post offices were regulated through an Act of
1837 on a uniform basis to unite all the post office establishments throughout
the then existing three Presidencies into one all-India service. Thereafter, the
Post Office Act of 1854 reformed the entire fabric of the postal system and the
post offices of India were placed on the present administrative footing on 1st
October 1854. This was the time when the first postage stamp valid across the
country was issued at an affordable and uniform rate of postage, fixed by weight
and not by distance. For the first time the common man could use a facility
which included free delivery of letters from door to door—a privilege previously
enjoyed only by heads of states and state officials. Since then, the post office
touched the life of every person of the country. Even though the British
established the post office for imperial interests, it along with the railways and
telegraph, became one of the greatest engines of social development.
The statute presently governing the postal services in the country is the
Indian Post Office Act, 1898. In the mid-19th century, the post office served as
facilitator of travel with its conveyance systems and by maintaining the dak
bungalows and dak serais. Mail order services were started with the value
payable system introduced in 1877, while fund remittances at the doorstep
became possible from 1880 through money order services. With the introduction
of the Post Office Savings Bank in 1882 banking facilities were accessible to all
and by 1884 all government employees were covered by the postal life Insurance.
Besides providing postal communication facilities, the post office network has
also provided facilities for remittance of funds, banking and insurance services
since the latter half of the 19th century.