Ministry prints postage stamps itself soon: Minister Gurung

Kathmandu, Aug 1: Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Prithvi Subba Gurung, has said postage stamps would be published by the Ministry from this very year.     

Talking to media persons after affixing a cancellation mark on 14 new postage stamps issued by the Department of Postal Services here on Friday, the Minister said that to date, the Department printed the stamps through the Janak Education Materials Centre (JEMC), and now onwards, preparations are underway to print these by the Ministry itself.     

According to the Ministry, essential national documents except bank notes will be published by the Security Printing Centre under the Ministry. He stressed the need for further promoting nation's art, culture, history, indigenous traditions, and crops through postage stamps.     

The newly issued postage stamps by the Department highlights Nepal's cultural festivals such as Bisket and Gaijatra, and religious sites including the Balkumari Temple (Thecho, Lalitpur), Sapta Dewal (Dailekh), Kotdevi Temple (Chagunarayan, Bhaktapur), Bhimsen Temple (Gorkha), and Baiteshwor Mahadev Temple (Dolakha).     

Similarly, under the historic stone sculptures and idols, the deity Bishnu Kaudena (Sarlahi) and the idol of Shreeswasthani deity (Kathmandu) have been featured in the postage stamps.     

Nepal's educationalists engineer Kularatna Tuladhar, Shanker Dev Pant, and Pandit Rhishiram Panthi are among those personalities being featured in the postage stamps.     

On the occasion, a book entitled Nepal Postage Stamp (1935 BS–2082 BS) was also launched. It presents details on the postage stamps that were published since the establishment of the Hulak Ghar (Post Office) in 1935 BS up to the year 2082 BS.     

Department Director General Manmaya Bhattarai Pangeni said the postal book is a beautiful document that reminds us of the country's communications history.(RSS)