Pakistan

Time Traveler | Cool Facts! | Technology | Post Explorer

Time Traveler
  The first postal service of Pakistan was established by the Muslim emperors who ruled the South Asian empire. In particular, Emperor Sher Shar of Sur developed a comprehensive network of postal relays at caravanseries (inns) in the early 16th century.

The postal service soon became unfortunately bogged with problems, more or less linked to the peculiar territorial division in the Indian sub-continent. More than 1000 miles of Indian territory that separated East ( Bangladesh ) and West Pakistan, but air links and sea routes helped overcome it initially.

Airmail services were inaugurated in 1952 between the East and the West of Pakistan, and letters and postcards were carried free-of-charge. The domestic network of Pakistani International Airlines was used by the postal system to facilitate delivery of mail to 29 points all over Pakistan.

The independence of East Pakistan allowed Pakistan to concentrate on its own internal mail service, especially when 75% of its post offices were in underdeveloped rural areas. Postal facilities gradually improved into the 20th century.

Cool Facts!
  Pak Post also features a Postal Staff College in the Pakistani capital Islamabad. It trains postal officials mostly from Third World nations on an extensive range of courses, from quality customer care to family welfare of postal employees.

Technology
  To cope with the influx of demand particularly due to the population boom, Pakistan has introduced, very slowly, a moderate mechanization policy. Machines that can automate the sorting of registered mail have been introduced. At major post offices in Karachi and Lahore, mechanically operated sorting machines have also been installed. All major post offices in Pakistan now use modern stamp-canceling machines and franking devices.

It has however been pointed out by native Pakistanis that the reluctance to mechanize the postal service to a greater extent is due to the fact that many risk losing their jobs. The mail sorting process is a labor intensive routine and does help provide jobs for a country which is facing one of its greatest population booms ever.

Post Explorer
  Pak Post, like the Japanese post, also provides services for the disabled. Literature or audio recordings meant for the blind, for example, are delivered for free up to weights of 10 kg.

The Pakistani postal service is described by Expedia.com as "generally inefficient" and hereby advises travelers to send important mail out of Pakistan via courier.