Soon, children can get a postage stamp with photos of themselves or their school premises or even open a philatelic deposit account. In an effort to generate interest among children in philately as a hobby, the Department of Posts is reaching out to schools through workshops.
The department has deployed philatelic promotion executives to visit government and private schools and conduct workshops to create awareness on how to collect stamps. These postal staff would soon begin to carry a mobile printer to issue personalised ‘My stamps’ to children instantly.
Officials of the postal department said the school children would also be connected to the nearest post offices for further transactions. Children could also open a philatelic deposit account with ₹200 and get commemorative stamps and special covers at their doorstep.
As of now, there are over 6,125 philatelic deposit accounts across the State. Of these, nearly 3,650 accounts are in the philatelic bureau, Anna Road head post office, Chennai. “We have fixed a minimum amount to help children open accounts. Commemorative stamps released on special occasions are available across the counter for six months,” said an official. On an average, 50 commemorative stamps are released every year. This year, 34 commemorative stamps, including on the Ramayana, vulnerable birds and Deepavali, have been released.
Extending ‘My Stamps’
Earlier, ‘My Stamps’, which provides an opportunity for people to print their photographs on the customised stamp, were issued through five philatelic bureaus across the State. R. Anand, Postmaster General, Chennai City Region, said the facility is now available at post offices in Park Town, T. Nagar and Tambaram. “We are now planning to extend the facility to 12 more post offices, including St. Thomas Mount, Chennai GPO, Kancheepuram, Tiruvannamalai, Arakkonam, Vellore and Puducherry. This will enable post offices to instantly print ‘My Stamps’,” he said.
Pointing out that the revenue from philately was growing, Mr. Anand said the department has earned a revenue of ₹4.36 crore last fiscal compared to ₹2.59 crore in 2015-16. “We have conducted workshops in 18 schools and nearly 1,200 school students have attended these workshops. We plan to conduct such programmes in 100 schools by this year-end,” he added. To attract children towards philately, permanent exhibitions are held at the Anna Road HPO and themes are changed every month.
