Kolkata, March 12, 2024

Kolkata’s iconic General Post Office (GPO) is poised to celebrate a milestone as it completes 250 years in March 2024. The week-long celebration of this momentous occasion is going to commence on March 14, 2024 and will continue till March 19, 2024.

The inaugural ceremony on Thursday (March 14, 2024) at Kolkata GPO will be graced by the Governor of West Bengal, Dr C V Ananda Bose as the Chief Guest.

A special philatelic cover on ‘250 years of Kolkata GPO’ will be released by the Governor in commemoration of the 250^th anniversary of Kolkata GPO. An exhibition on ‘Journey of Mails’ will also be inaugurated by Dr Bose at Rotunda, Kolkata GPO.

The inaugural ceremony will be followed by an anniversary concert at the South Verandah by a renowned Kolkata-based orchestra.

Next day, i.e., on March 15, 2024 (Friday) there will be the inauguration of a mobile tram exhibition at esplanade tram depot at 11 am. The tram will be moving from Esplanade to Gariahat. It will be followed by a host of other programmes on the same day including release of special cover on ‘Transportation of Mails through Ages’ on a moving tram, release of special cover on ‘Grand Clock of Kolkata GPO’ at Kolkata GPO and other cultural events where eminent danseuse Smt Mamata Shankar will be present.

On March 16, 2024, there will be release of special philatelic cover on lantern, badges & spears of runners at Kolkata GPO, where eminent Hockey player Shri Gurbux Singh Grewal will be present.

On March 17, 2024, there will be Heritage Walk and release of picture postcards on ‘Heritage Buildings’ at Kolkata GPO, where eminent footballer Shri Subrata Bhattacharya will be present.

Next day, i.e., on March 18, 2024, there will be a function on release of a boat carrying special cover from Howrah to Fairlie Place via Dakshineswar across the River Ganga, release of picture postcards on ‘Bango Tori’ and the like. Eminent swimmers Smt Bula Chowdhury and Shri Sanjiv Chakraborty will be present on the occasion. Besides, there will be a special function regarding the release of a special philatelic cover on ‘Post Box through Ages’ at Kolkata GPO. Eminent litterateur Shri Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay will be present on the occasion.

On March 19, 2024, a special philatelic cover on ‘Badges of Post Office’ will be released at Kolkata GPO. On the same day, results of the painting, photography & sculpture contests will be declared followed by distribution of awards, where Ms Smita Kumar, Director General Postal Services will be present.

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SSS/12.3.24/

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