The Central government’s plan to issue a commemorative stamp to honour former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao on his 100th birthday in June last year were scuttled when the stamps got leaked before their official release.
About the ‘Commemorative Stamps’ –
- A Postal Stamp is a small adhesive piece of paper of specified value issued by a national post office to be affixed to a letter or parcel to indicate the amount of postage paid.
- Commemorative postage stamps are issued on subjects/ themes / institutions / personalities / events that have a national or international stature or have made national/international contribution or impact.
- No stamp can be issued on a living personality.
- The personalities on whom commemorative postage stamp may be issued should be of national or international importance.
- Also, the occasion to be commemorated must be the birth centenary or 10th /25th /50th /100th death anniversary.
- Proposals for issue of Commemorative Postage Stamps may be sent by any citizen of India.
- Stamps on personalities shall not exceed 10% of the Annual Issue Programme.
About the Deen Dayal SPARSH Yojana –
- Philately is the collection and study of Postage stamps.
- Reinforcing the efforts aimed towards increasing the reach of Philately, the Department of Posts launched a scholarship scheme called Deen Dayal SPARSH (Scholarship for Promotion of Aptitude & Research in Stamps as a Hobby) Yojana in 2017.
- Objective – To promote Philately among children at a young age in a sustainable manner that can reinforce and supplement the academic curriculum in addition to providing a hobby that can help them relax and de-stress.
- The scheme awards annual scholarships to those students who have good academic record and also pursue Philately as a hobby.
- A maximum of 40 students will be selected representing 10 students each from class VI to class IX.
- Union Ministry of Communication serves as the nodal ministry for the scheme.
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