The Department of Post / India Post has completed 70 years of active philatelic activities or service to philatelists in the year 2011. The first philatelic bureau was opened on 21st June 1941 at Bombay GPO to cater needs of philatelists.
Bombay Philatelic Bureau was the only bureau in India functioning alone for more than 7 years. On 15th August 1948, nine philatelic bureaux were opened in different state capitals of India, viz. Calcutta, Cuttack, Delhi, Lucknow, Madras, Nagpur, Patna, Shillong and Simla, vide Postal Notice no. 31, dated 6.8.1948.
It appears to me that no new philatelic bureau was inaugurated for next 6 years. The exact date of opening of other philatelic bureaux is difficult to find because such information is not available with philatelic bureaux and postal notices of such opening is elusive. I tried to find such dates in philatelic magazines of that time but recording is not accurate. India Stamp Journal reported on page 246 in November 1967 issue that 19 philatelic bureaux (name mentioned) were working at that time. It means that nine philatelic bureaux were, opened between 16th August 1948 and November 1967. The Philatelic Journal of India again reported in August 1970 issue that 23 different philatelic bureaux were operating but the names of the bureaux were not mentioned.
I also collected special covers of inauguration of philatelic bureaux, but sometimes they are misleading. For example the philatelic bureau of Jamshedpur was inaugurated on 11th August 1999, as per special cover but the list of philatelic bureaux of 1997, shows the name of Jamshedpur, thus we see that either special covers or the list give wrong information.
Philatelic Bureaux always fascinated me, and that is why, I regard them as temples of Modern Indian Philately. Whenever I visit a city, I always pay a visit to the local philatelic bureau. In my opinion philatelic bureaux are indispensable for true philatelists.
Some twenty years back, I started collecting information regarding opening dates of different philatelic bureaux, but could not succeed to my satisfaction. The result of my research with problems discussed above is as follows:
LIST OF PHILATELIC BUREAUX
| Sr. No. |
Date
|
Name of Post Office
|
Remarks
|
| 1. |
21.06.1941
| Bombay G.P.O. – 400001 (Mumbai) | Vide D.G.P. Circular No. 14 dated 21.06.1941. |
| 2. |
15.08.1948
| Calcutta G.P.O. – 700001 (Kolkata) | Vide Postal Notice No. 31 dated 06.08.1948. |
| 3. |
15.08.1948
| Cuttack G.P.O. – 753001 | Vide Postal Notice No. 31 dated 06.08.1948. |
| 4. |
15.08.1948
| Lucknow – 226001 | Vide Postal Notice No. 31 dated 06.08.1948. |
| 5. |
15.08.1948
| Madras – 600002 (Chennai) | Vide Postal Notice No. 31 dated 06.08.1948. |
| 6. |
15.08.1948
| Nagpur-440001 | Vide Postal Notice No. 31 dated 06.08.1948. |
| 7. |
15.08.1948
| New Delhi-110001 | Vide Postal Notice No. 31 dated 06.08.1948. |
| 8. |
15.08.1948
| Patna-800001 | Vide Postal Notice No. 31 dated 06.08.1948. |
| 9. |
15.08.1948
| Shillong-793001 | Vide Postal Notice No. 31 dated 06.08.1948. |
| 10. |
15.08.1948
| Simla-171001 (Shimla) | Vide Postal Notice No. 31 dated 06.08.1948. |
| 11. |
Before April 1957
| Hyderabad-500001 |
Postal Guide of April 1957, records these philatelic bureaux on page no. 5 but those were not recorded in October 1954 Postal Guide.
|
| 12. |
Before April 1957
| Jaipur-302001 | |
| 13. |
Before April 1957
| Karnool-518001 | |
| 14. |
In between 01.07.1960 and 06.05.1961
| Allahabad-211001 |
Is not included in page no. 5 of Postal Guide of 30.06.1960, but reported on page 126 of June 1961 issue of Philatelic Journal of India.
|
| 15. |
06.05.1961
| Bangalore-560001 | Reported on page 126 of June 1961 issue of Philatelic Journal of India. |
| 16. |
01.07.1961
| Ahmedabad-380001 | Reported on page 159 of August 1961 issue of Philatelic Journal of India. |
| 17. |
Before 30.06.1965
| Bhopal-462001 | Reported on page 5 of Postal Guide of 30.06.1965. |
| 18. |
Before 30.06.1965
| Kanpur-208001 | |
| 19. | Before 30.06.1965 | Trivendram-695001 (Thiruvananthapuram) | |
| 20. |
01.07.1970
| 1 CBPO-900056 | Reported in Inpex-1970 Souvenir |
| 21. |
18.07.1970
| 2 CBPO-900099 | |
| 22. | Before 23.12.1970 | Chandigarh-160017 | |
| 23. | Before 23.12.1970 | Jammu Tawi-180001 | |
| 24. |
04.09.1975
| Indore-452001 | Reported in Inpex-1975 Souvenir |
| 25. |
10.02.1976
| Ambala-133001 | Reported in Inpex-1977 Souvenir |
| 26. |
10.02.1976
| Ludhiana-141001 | |
| 27. |
01.05.1976
| Pondicherry-605001 | |
| 28. |
18.11.1976
| Gauhati-781001 | |
| 29. |
21.06.1977
| Coimbatore-641001 | |
| 30. |
28.08.1977
| Pune-411001 | |
| 31. |
01.03.1979
| Ernakulam-682011 | -- |
| 32. |
06.09.1981
| Madurai-625001 | Reported on page 154 of Philatelic Journal of India, Sep/Oct. 1981 |
| 33. |
20.12.1981
| Tiruchirapalli-620001 | Reported on page 58 of Philatelic Journal of India, Mar/Apr. 1982 |
| 34. |
20.01.1982
| Amritsar-143001 | Special Cover |
| 35. |
22.04.1982
| Vishakhapatnam-530001 | Reported on Page 158 of India Stamp Journal, June 1982 |
| 36. |
05.05.1982
| Gwalior (Lashkar)-474001 | Special Cover |
| 37. |
19.10.1982
| Varanasi-221001 | Reported on page 204 of Philatelic Journal of India, Nove./Dec. 1982 |
| 38. |
20.10.1982
| Agra-282001 | |
| 39. |
28.02.1983
| Vadodara-390001 | Special Cover |
| 40. |
16.06.1983
| Dehradun-248001 | Special Cover |
| 41. |
23.11.1983
| Panaji-403001 | -- |
| 42. |
03.02.1984
| Bhilai-490001 | Special Cover |
| 43. |
27.02.1984
| Kohima-797001 | -- |
| 44. |
29.02.1984
| Imphal-795001 | -- |
| 45. |
03.08.1984
| Jodhpur-342001 | Special Cover |
| 46. |
01.05.1985
| Agartala-799001 | -- |
| 47. |
11.09.1989
| Mangalore-575001 | As per letter of Postmaster, Mangalore |
| 48. |
11.04.1990
| Rajkot-360001 | -- |
| 49. |
30.07.1990
| Jalandhar City-144001 | Special Cover |
| 50. |
15.10.1990
| Calicut-673001 | As per letter of Dy. Postmaster, Calicut |
| 51. |
29.01.1992
| Raipur-792001 | Special Cover |
| 52. |
01.01.1997
| Nashik-422001 | -- |
| 53. |
--
| Vijaywada-520001 | -- |
| 54. |
01.04.1999
| Aizwal-796001 | -- |
| 55. |
11.08.1999
| Jamshedpur-831001 | Special Cover |
| 56. |
04.12.2000
| Jabalpur-482001 | -- |
| 57. |
01.03.2001
| Belgaum H. O. -590001 | As per letter of Postmaster, Belgaum |
| 58. |
09.10.2001
| Bhubaneshwar-751001 | -- |
| 59. |
09.10.2001
| Udaipur H.O. -313001 | -- |
| 60. |
16.09.2002
| Ajmer H.O. - 305001 | -- |
| 61. |
11.10.2002
| Mysore H.O. – 570001 | Special Cover |
| 62. |
04.06.2003
|
Thrissur H.O. - 680 001
|
As per letter of Postmaster, Thrissur /Stamps of India Collectors Companion, Issue no. 119, 5 June 2003.
|
| 63. |
09.10.2003
| Bilaspur H. O. - 495001 | Special Cover |
| 64. |
11.02.2004
| Muzaffarpur H.O. – 842001 | Special Cover |
| 65. |
01.11.2004
| Port Blair H.O. – 744101 | Special Cover |
| 66. |
2004
| Siliguri H. O. – 734001 | -- |
| 67. |
10.11.2006
| Ranchi G.P.O. – 834001 | Special Cover |
| 68. |
27.03.2008
| Patiala H. O. – 147001 | -- |
Special Cover issued to mark opening of Philatelic Bureau at Vadodara (Baroda)
Date: 28.02.1983
Date: 28.02.1983
Special Cover issued to mark opening of Philatelic Bureau at Ranchi
Date: 10.11.2006
Out of 68 philatelic bureaux, the opening dated for 17 is missing. If we, philatelists join our hands together and search for inaugural dates, I am sure, we will get them. My contact number is +919327030758. Please contact me if you have any more information.
Contact:
Ashok Kumar Bayanwala,
Vrinda Niket,
96, Swastik Society,
Navarangpura,
Ahmedabad-380 009
Email: parthlochan@gmail.com
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