India to say Goodbay to Telegram Service on Sunday

Indian Telegram, Telegram, Telegraph, Communication Service, British East India Company, BSNL, Tech, Lifestyle, News

Indian Telegram, Telegram, Telegraph, Communication Service, British East India Company, BSNL, Tech, Lifestyle, News

Today is the last day of telegram service in india. 160-year old telegram service in the country will for the last time on Sunday. BSNL CMD RK Upadhya said. “The service will not be available from Monday. Sunday is the last day for telegram services.”

The telegraph service started in 1851 when the British East India Company built a 30-mile (48km) electric telegraph line from the city of Calcutta to its suburb of Diamond Harbour, primarily for official use.

Over the next few years, telegraph lines were expanded to cover the entire country and in 1855, the service was opened for public use. Its success was instant, says CV Gopinath, the former deputy director general of telegraph services.

The 1857 rebellion against the British, often described as the first war of India’s independence, “failed because of this telegraph technology”, he says. “Lord Dalhousie [the governor-general] once said that the telegraph saved India.”

Nowadays, telegram messages are entered in the server and sent to the destination offices in seconds. A printout of the message was taken at the destination office and handed over to the postal department, who delivered the telegram.