Telegram is already forgotten by the people of India.  Till ten years ago telegram played a vital role in communication.  An urgent message used to be sent through a telegram.  Generally death messages were sent by individuals in olden days.  That is why a telegram used to be considered as a bad message.  But later on the communication system was used by commercial houses and also by individuals for sending different messages in a short form.

But, the invasion of the Cell Phones in to the market made the accessibility easy and the information now is passed on without going to a communication agency like P&T.  It is no doubt a good technological development but the age old telegrams are pushed to the corner without any takers.  It became so obsolete that it is forgotten that once a Telegraph Office was busily working with the customers thronging the offices at day and night.

The Senior General Manager (Telegraph Services) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. at New Delhi issued a circular that the Telegraph service will be discontinued from 15th July onwards.  The staff working in the Telegraph office will be placed in other wings like land line, mobile and broadband services.

Some are in the opinion that the Telegraph services can be given back to the Postal Service which used to handle it right from its inception to the time it is given BSNL.  But the telegram service is also costlier than SMS on cell phones.  A telegram costs Rs.27.50 where as it was 3.50 earlier.  As the technology became obsolete, the authorities are in the opinion that it should be scrapped.

(AW-SriJa)