Postcard enlarges, bears Ahmedabad stamp

The humble Indian postcard is finally getting bigger, albeit fractionally. This small ochre piece of paper, which is nearly the identity of India Post, has now increased its size by 9.53%, particularly to accommodate the long addresses of Indians. The postcard, which earlier measured 140x90mm, has been revised to 145x95mm. A communiqué from the ministry of communications and IT says this has been done to “provide more space for users”.

“The lowest blank part of the address side of postcard covering whole length is reserved for barcoding to facilitate processing under automatic mail sorting. However, the size of postcard has been increased to create more space,” the communiqué
elaborates.

What makes it striking for Amdavadis is that the change has been made by the Union ministry in response to a plea made by Ahmedabad’s veteran Congressman and party’s spokesperson Jayanti Parmar. “I had made a representation to the former MoS Jyotiraditya Scindia when he was here to campaign during the Lok Sabha elections. The concern is that there were only three lines to write the receiver’s address, which was often not enough. My request has been accepted,” he said. The new postcards will soon be available at post offices.

Despite the new-age surge of technology, the postcard, he adds, is sill the prime means of communication for lakhs of Indians. Significantly, this is not restricted to rural areas, but a good few of urban dwellers also find solace in penning their message on the classical card. 

In addition to the postcard being functional tool of cheap communication for friends and family, ‘Meghdoot Postcard’, as it is called, is also widely used by advertisers to market their products.