India Post dedicates special postal cover to hands that built Mumbai

At a time when migrant exodus has been choking different states in the wake of ongoing nationwide lockdown, India Post in Mumbai has launched a special postal cover at the Bicentennial Hall of the historic Mumbai GPO building, a GPO official said. It was also the 50th day since the lockdown was announced.

Harish Chandra Agrawal, chief postmaster general of Maharashtra and Goa, said that India Post wanted  to acknowledge the contribution of natives of other states in building Mumbai. “They are an integral part of the cityscape, and what better time to recognise their effort than the present.”

Meanwhile, Swati Pandey, postmaster general of Mumbai region, said, “These migrant workers belonging to remotest parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar or West Bengal, have been immensely contributing to building the city of Mumbai, by making the lives of Mumbaikars smooth and seamless. The special cover is an attempt to keep their struggles and contributions recorded in the history of India.”

The Special First Day Cover (FDC) features migrants working in Mumbai’s jewellery sector and Bollywood, construction labourers, and cabbies.

Five migrant workers – a taxi driver, a jewellery craftsman, a tailor who stitches masks for the India Post, and two from the construction sector – from different sectors were called upon to release the special cover. The event took place at a time when migrant workers, stuck in different parts of the country following the nationwide lockdown, were making efforts to go back to their home states.

Groceries were distributed to the migrant workers present during the release. The event was conducted by strictly observing all social distancing norms, according to Mumbai GPO.