India Post needs a Research Unit for Philately

Another round of stamps that contain unique spellings. First up, the D. K. Pattammal stamp issued in September 2014. This can get tricky, but I will try explain. The musician's name in the vernacular language (Hindi) is printed incorrectly. The Department of Posts is not going to make any amends, but I do want philatelists to be aware of this fact. Take a look at the snapshot from the information brochure released along with the stamps. The incorrect Hindi spelling on the actual stamp reads - D. K. Pattaamal, whereas it should be corrected as D. K. Pattammal (as printed in the brochure).

D. K. Pattammal

The next stamp issue that deserves mention was recently released on 20 March 2015. This stamp was released during the India and Indian Ocean international conference in Bhubaneshwar. The stamp commemorates Indian Ocean and king Rajendra Chola I. The theme is great and the stamp is design is decent as well. The problem lies in the fact that the king's name Rajendra Chola I is printed as Rajendra Chola 1. It is typical to use regnal numbers (written using roman numerals) for monarchs, but India Post's choice of using the common numerals was odd. In the Hindi spelling on the stamp, apart from the fact that the Hindi spelling of Rajendra Chola I, oddly reads Rajendra Chol I, use of the common numeral 1, instead of just spelling out 'Pratham' or 'First' is amusing. I am unsure about the spelling of Chola in Hindi, but if I find additional information will provide an update.

Anyways, thought I'd shed some light on these two stamp issues, with a hope that stamp design can improve in the future. There is an urgent need to establish a research wing within the philately division in the Department of Posts to avoid such gross errors. This research unit will enable collection of accurate information on stamp subjects, help design stamps in consultation with SPMCIL, national museums, Ministry of Culture, etc. A proper system of quality check with respect to stamp design and printing will ensure that the best product is delivered to the philatelists. This idea may have been mooted in the previous Five Year Plan as well, but when will it be implemented?

Check the Spellings #1

It is important to have the correct spellings on stamps and related philatelic material (brochure, FDC etc). In the last decade there have been numerous occasions of typographical errors on Indian postage stamps. These are mostly related to the vernacular (Hindi) spellings. 

First one being a postage stamp issued on 30 June 2008 to commemorate 50 years of Madhav Institute of Science & Technology, Gwalior during the valedictory function of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations. The postage stamp has a spelling error in the Hindi alphabets. The Hindi word for 'Technology' is 'Praudyogiki'. It uses a letter, 'dya' in its spelling.  The stamp on the contrary mentions it as 'Praudhogiki', making no meaning out of it. It has replaced 'dya' with 'dha'. The Ministry under which the Department of Posts functions is Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, having 'Technology' in its name itself! Such blunders are an insult to the department, which cannot even take care of spelling mistakes in postage stamps, referred to as being a nation's reprecentatives to the world. The fascimile on the borchure shows the name spelt out correctly. The error could have cropped up during the printing process.

Another mistake can be found in the Brahmos missile postage stamps released on 22 December 2008. The FDC carries the spelling of the Moskva river, in English as MOSKAVA whereas it is correctly mentioned at MOSKVA on the miniature sheet. The version in the vernacular language, on the FDC reads as MASKOVA and on the miniature sheet as MOSKOVA. So, these are four different ways to the original MOSKVA river, after which the BrahMOS cruise missile is partly named. I request the artists to be more careful, since postage stamp is a miniature art form that conveys a message and thus needs attention to perfection. A proof-check of the philatelic materials should be done before being sent out for printing. These postage stamps are the message-carriers of a nation and this postage stamp in particular, will have significance in Russia as well.

A variation in spelling Satyajit Ray's name can be found in a definitive stamp release on the legendary filmmaker, a builder of modern India in March 2009. The vernacular spelling of Ray's name is different on the other stamp released to honor him in January 1994. The stamp in the definitive series translates his last name 'Ray' name to ' रे ' where as the commemorative version has is as ' राय '. One is curious to know what goes in the making of India postage stamps and why little to no attention is paid to the details and accuracy. It may not always be wise to question the spellings for proper nouns (individual's names) but, there is ample scope to improving uniformity in this regard.

This topic is one that deserves attention. The last word on this has not been written yet. As I finish writing this, there is a new postage stamp on Indian Ocean and Rajendra Chola 1 and there are a few minor errors on that postage stamp as well. Rest for later.

India Post 2014

Posting India Post's stamp releases from 2014 with information including the format of each issue and the print quantity. Hoping this helps philatelists better plan their collection.

Date	Issue Description	Format	Denomination	Print Quantity*
14 January	Food Corporation of India	Sheet of 45	Rs 5	0.42 Million
30 January	International Year of Crystallography	Sheet of 45	Rs 20	0.41 Million
02 February	Indian Museum, Kolkata (3 designs)	Souvenir Sheet of 3	Rs 45	0.61 Million
08 February	Jagjit Singh (2 designs)	18 Se-tenants	Rs 5 and 20	0.41 Mil each
11 February	Central Vigilance Commission	Sheet of 45	Rs 5	0.41 Million
25 February	Hasrat Mohani	Sheet of 45	Rs 5	0.31 Million
25 April	National Council of Churches in India	Sheet of 45	Rs 5	0.61 Million
30 April	Chattampiswamikal	Sheet of 45	Rs 5	0.7 Million
30 April	Govind Ballabh Pant Hospital, Delhi	Sheet of 45	Rs 5	0.6 Million
14 May	Drukpa Lineage of Buddhism	Sheet of 45	Rs 5	0.62 Million
12 June	2014 FIFA World Cup (4 designs)	Sheets of 49 each	Rs 5 x 2; 25 x 2	0.9 Mil each
12 June	2014 FIFA World Cup (4 designs)	Miniature Sheet of 4	Rs 60	0.4 Million
16 July	MyStamp – Fairy Queen	Sheetlet of 12	Rs 5	N/A
04 August	MyStamp – Hawa Mahal	Sheetlet of 12	Rs 5	N/A
04 August	MyStamp – Red Fort	Sheetlet of 12	Rs 5	N/A
04 August	MyStamp – St. Francis Church	Sheetlet of 12	Rs 5	N/A
04 August	MyStamp – Taj Mahal	Sheetlet of 12	Rs 5	N/A
05 August	MyStamp – Ajanta Caves	Sheetlet of 12	Rs 5	N/A
05 August	MyStamp – Greeting	Sheetlet of 12	Rs 5	N/A
05 August	MyStamp – Mysore Palace (2 designs)	Sheetlet of 12	Rs 5 each	N/A
05 August	MyStamp – Port Blair Island	Sheetlet of 12	Rs 5	N/A
05 August	MyStamp – Qutub Minar	Sheetlet of 12	Rs 5	N/A
20 August	Gaiety Theatre Complex, Shimla	Sheet of 21	Rs 5	N/A
03 September	Indian Musicians (8 designs) Ravi Shankar Bhimsen Joshi D. K. Pattammal Gangubai Hangal Kumar Gandharva Vilayat Khan Mallikarjun Mansur Ali Akbar Khan	Sheets of 45 each	Rs 5 x 6; 25 x 2	0.5 Mil each (6) 0.8 Mil each (2)
03 September	Indian Musicians (8 designs)	Sheetlets of 9	Rs 5 x 6; 25 x 2	1 Mil each
03 September	Indian Musicians (8 designs)	Miniature Sheet of 8	Rs 80	0.4 Million
25 October	Anagarika Dharmapala	Sheet of 45	Rs 5	0.5 Million
04 November	Liver Transplantation in India	Sheet of 45	Rs 5	0.6 Million
12 November	UTI	Sheet of 45	Rs 5	0.403 Million
28 November	India-Slovenia: Joint Issue (2 designs)	Sheets of 45	Rs 5 and 25	0.6 Mil each
28 November	India-Slovenia: Joint Issue (2 designs)	Miniature Sheet of 2	Rs 30	0.3 Million
29 November	Sagol Kangjei	Sheet of 45	Rs 5	0.6 Million
04 December	Swami Ekrasanand Saraswati	Sheet of 45	Rs 5	0.6 Million
15 December	Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan	Sheet of 45	Rs 5	0.6 Million
24 December	Kuka Movement	Sheet of 45	Rs 5	0.6 Million
30 December	Baba Amte	Sheet of 45	Rs 5	0.6 Million

              *Print Quantity indicates the quantity of stamps or miniature sheet/sheets