(Image source from: Telegram service laid to rest})
Just quarter to midnight, the 163-year-old telegram service came to a close on Sunday. The iconic service was called off for good, with the last telegram delivered to the young political scion Rahul Gandhi.
The telegram counter shut down at 11:45 pm. The revenue collected at the time of closure was Rs. 68,837.
“The total booking on Sunday was 2,197 of which billing through computer accounted for 1,329 and phone booking 91,” a senior telegraph officer said.
The last telegram was booked at Central Telegraph Office (CTO) Janpath by Ashwani Mishra. The sender wired the last telegram to Rahul Gandhi and Director General of DD news SM Khan.
The Government of India apparently decided to call off the service to cut down the losses caused to the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). Department of Telecommunications (DoT) employees felt that shutting down the department might not affect the common people as much as it would pay to save DoT.
AW: Suchorita Dutta
