COMMUNICATIONS

POSTS AND TELEGRAPHS

This is the account of post and telegraph offices given in the old Khandesh Gazetteer.

" The district of Khandesh. forming part of the Khandesh postal division, contains fifty-three post offices. Of these that at Dhulia, the chief disbursing office, is in charge of a postmaster drawing a yearly salary rising from £ 120 to £ 168 (Rs. 1,200-Rs. 1,680); four head offices at Bhusaval, Jalgaon, Pachora, and Sindkheda, are in charge of deputy postmasters drawing from £ 48 to £ 50 (Ks. 480-Rs. 600) a year; twenty sub-offices at Amalner, Bhadgaon, Bodvad. Chalisgaon, Chopda, Dharangaon. Edlabad, Erandol, Jamner, Maheji Nandurbar, Nasirabad, Parola, Pimpalner, Savda, Shahada, Shirpur, Songir, Varangaon, and Yaval, are in charge of sub-deputy post masters drawing from £ 18 to £ 48 (Rs. 180-Rs. 480) a yen eleven branch offices at Betavad, Faizpur, Mhasavad, Ner, Ned Nimbora. Nizampur, Patonda, Ranala, Raver, and Taloda. an in charge of branch postmasters drawing from £ 12 to £ 14 8 s (Rs. 120-Rs. 144) a year; and seventeen branch offices at Adavad Asoda, Bahadurpur, Dondaicha,, Kajgaon. Kanalda, Nagardevla, Nandra, Paldhi, Pimprala, Prakasha, Shendurni, Sirud, Sukri, Thalner, Utran, and Virdel. are in charge of village schoolmasters, drawing besides their schoolmasters salaries, from £ 3 12,s. to £9 12s. (Rs. 36-Rs. 96) a year from the postal department. The post office at Pimpalner is, from October to February, removed to Malpur, then the mamlatdar's head-quarters. The Maheji post office is open from December to February while the fair lasts. The branch office at Kannad in the Nizam's dominions, twenty miles south-east of Chalisgaon, is managed as part of the Khandesh postal division.

"These offices are supervised by an inspector with a yearly salary of £ 240. (Rs. 2,400). helped by a sub-inspector with a yearly salary of £ 90 (Rs. 900). At some of the chief stations papers and letters are delivered by thirty-two postmen with yearly salaries varying from £9 12s. to £12 (Rs. 96-Rs. 120). In some places postal runners do the work receiving, in addition to their salaries, from £1 4s. to £2 8.9. (Rs. 12-Rs. 24) a year. Village postmen ninety in number, receive from £8s. to £12 (Rs. 84-120) a year. A pony-cart post, managed by contractors, runs daily both ways from Dhulia and Chalisgaon. The mails, carried along the north-east section of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway; are sorted by travelling post office sorters who have the use of a separate carriage. The parcel sorting-office at the Bhusaval railway station,' in charge of an officer drawing £120 (Rs. 1.200) a year, is supervised by the superintendent of travelling post offices, Bombay Division.

" Besides the railway telegraph offices at the different railway stations, there are at present (1880) two Government Telegraph offices, One at Bhusaval and the other at Dhulia. The total number of messages in 1879-80 was 2,036 at Bhusaval, 148 of them Government and 1888 private and 944 at Dhulia, 410 of them Government and 534 private. The corresponding figures for 1870-71 and 1875-76 were 278 and 734 for Bhusawal and 498 and 458 for Dhulia."

The Indian Posts and Telegraphs Department maintains a postal division at Dhulia. Besides the headquarters at Dhulia, which is also the chief receiving and distributing head office, there are a number of sub-offices, combined offices and branch offices. [The Directory of Villages and Towns give the Postal facilities in the villages in the district.]

The following table gives the statistics of post and telegraph services in the district:―

TABLE No. 5

STATISTICS OF POSTAL, TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE FACILITIES IN DHULIA DISTRICT. DURING 1961-62 1965-66, 1970-71 AND 1971-72

*Figure of telegraph offices has been reduced, as 3 telegraph offices have been converted into non-combined offices.

There are six telephone exchanges in the district, viz., at Dhulia Dondaicba, Nawapur, Nandurbar. Shahada and Shirpur.

The number of working connections from the various exchanges are given below:-

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