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IloveIndia

Read about postal offices in India. Post Offices in India offer various types of post office accounts.

Postal Services in India

India possesses the largest postal network in the world with 155,000 post offices spread all over the country as on March 31, 2001, of which 89 per cent are in the rural sector. Post offices in India play a vital role in the rural areas. They connect these rural areas with the rest of the country and also provide banking facilities in the absence of banks in the rural areas.

The modern postal service in India is more than 150 years old. In 1854, the Post Office in the Province of Sindh, (then in British India ), made postal history, when India became the first country to issue postage stamps. In October 1854, all the post offices of Indian sub continent came under centralized control. In the same year Railway Mail Service was established and India had a network of 701 post offices across the continent. In 1911, India achieved another "first" when a biplane from Allahabad to Naini flew with 6500 pieces of mail. The flight was the first official Air Mail in the world.

After independence, the Indian government broadened the vision of the postal system to reach the entire population of the country. Today Indian postal system has a reach that ranges from arid deserts of Rajasthan and Kutch to the icy heights of Laddakh. India has the highest post office in the world in Sikkim at a height of 15,500 feet (postal code - 172114).

Indian postal service provide many facilities like - general or registered mail, parcel post, speed post, express post, e post and special courier service known as EMS-speed post. They also offer a number of post office savings schemes like National Savings Certificate, Kisan Vikas Patra, Recurring Deposits and Term Deposits.

Kisan Vikas Patra
Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) is a saving instrument that provides interest income similar to bonds. Amount invested in Kisan Vikas Patra doubles on maturity after 8 years & 7 months.

Monthly Income Account
Post Office Monthly Income Account is meant for those investors who want to invest a lump sum and earn interest on monthly basis for their livelihood.

National Savings Certificate
National Savings Certificate, popularly known as NSC, is a time-tested tax saving instrument that combines adequate returns with high safety.

Public Provident Fund
Public Provident Fund, popularly known as PPF, is a savings cum tax saving instrument. It also serves as a retirement planning tool for many of those who do not have any structured pension plan covering them.

Recurring Deposit Account
Recurring deposit account is a systematic way of saving money. The scheme is meant for those investors who want to deposit a fixed amount regularly on monthly

Post Office Saving Account
Post office saving account is similar to a savings account in a bank. It is a safe instrument to park those funds, which you might need to liquidate fully or partially at very short notice.

Time Deposit Account
Post office time deposit account is just like the bank fixed deposit account. These time deposits are meant for those investors who want to deposit a lump sum for a fixed period.