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{{Short description|Post office building in India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2018}}
{{Infobox building
| name = General Post Office, Chennai
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| former_names =
| alternate_names =
| status =
| image = The General Post Office, Chennai.jpeg
| image_size = 220
| image_alt =
| caption = Chennai General Post Office, c. 1905
| pushpin_map =
| pushpin_map_alt =
| map_caption =
| altitude =
| building_type =
| architectural_style = [[Indo-Saracenic]]
| structural_system =
| cost = {{INR}} 680,000
| ren_cost =
| client = General Post Office
| owner =
| current_tenants =
| landlord =
| location =
| address = Rajaji Salai, [[Parry's Corner]]
| location_town = [[Chennai]]
| location_country = [[India]]
| coordinates = {{coord|13|5|34|N|80|17|28|E|type:landmark_region:IN-TN|display=inline,title}}
| groundbreaking_date =
| construction_start_date = 1874
| completion_date =
| completed_date =
| opened_date =
| inauguration_date = 1884
| renovation_date =
| demolished_date =
| destruction_date =
| height = {{convert|125|ft|m}}
| diameter =
| antenna_spire =
| roof =
| top_floor =
| other_dimensions = {{convert|352|ft|m}} long, {{convert|162|ft|m}} broad
| floor_count = 3
| floor_area = {{convert|55000|sqft|sqm}}
| seating_type =
| seating_capacity =
| elevator_count =
| main_contractor =
| architect = [[Robert Chisholm (architect)|Robert Chisholm]]
| architecture_firm =
| structural_engineer =
| services_engineer =
| civil_engineer =
| other_designers =
| quantity_surveyor =
| awards =
| designations =
| ren_architect =
| ren_firm =
| ren_str_engineer =
| ren_serv_engineer =
| ren_civ_engineer =
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| ren_awards =
| website = {{URL|http://www.chennaipost.gov.in/chennaigpo.aspx}}
| embedded =
| references =
}}

'''Chennai General Post Office''' (GPO) is located on [[Rajaji Salai, Chennai|Rajaji Salai]] at [[Parry's Corner]], [[Chennai]]. It functions in a building built in 1884. It is located opposite to the [[Chennai Beach]] suburban railway station. Chennai GPO covers an area of about {{convert|23.33|km2|abbr=on}} and serves a population of around 220,000. It has no sub-branch offices.<ref name="ChennaiPost_MadrasGPO">{{cite web
| title = Chennai GPO
| publisher = Chennai Post
| url = http://www.chennaipost.gov.in/chennaigpo.aspx
| access-date = 10 Mar 2012
| archive-date = 9 November 2011
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111109173019/http://www.chennaipost.gov.in/chennaigpo.aspx
| url-status = dead
}}</ref>

==History==
In 1712, Governor [[Edward Harrison (British administrator)|Harrison]] (1711–1717) first started a Company Postal Service in Madras to carry mail to [[Bengal]] by ''dak'' runner. By 1736, a postal system of sorts was in place with a somewhat greater vision. In 1774, a system of charging postage on private letters began.<ref name="MadrasMusings_ChennaiGPO"/> In 1785 and 1786, civilians John Philip Burlton and Thomas Lewin of the [[East India Company]], respectively, suggested to the [[Governor of Madras]] that it was necessary to lay down postal rules, draw up a postal network and establish a postal authority. This warranted establishing a post office in [[Fort St. George]] so that the letters of the staff of the company, which were carried free at the expense of the government until then, could be charged for.<ref name="HistoryOfTNPost">{{cite web
| title = History of Tamil Nadu Postal Circle
| publisher = Tamil Nadu Postal Circle
| url = http://www.tamilnadupost.nic.in/org/history.htm
| access-date = 11 Mar 2012}}</ref> Accepting this suggestion, the first Madras Post Office with fixed postal charges—the Madras GPO—was established by Governor Sir [[Archibald Campbell (British Army officer, born 1739)|Archibald Campbell]] (1786–1790), who also established the Male and Female Orphan Asylums (that developed as [[St. George's School, Chennai|St. George's School]]), and the postal service was thus made a government facility.

Chennai General Post Office was initially opened in [[Fort St. George]] Square, just outside the Sea Gate, on 1 June 1786. The first Postmaster-General was Sir Archibald's secretary, A. M. Campbell. Robert Mitford was appointed the Deputy Postmaster-General. The GPO was served by one writer (clerk), five sorters, a head peon and ten postmen. Later, the company overruled Campbell's appointment and, eventually, Oliver Colt was appointed the first Postmaster-General of Madras.<ref name="MadrasMusings_ChennaiGPO"/>

To expand its services, the Madras Post Office, as it was generally called, opened a couple of receiving offices (as opposed to full service offices that also delivered mail) in March 1834, one at Hunter's Road in [[Vepery]] and another in [[Royapettah]] on what is now known as [[Westcott Road]]. In October 1837, the post office moved to "the old Bank" building inside the Fort, what is now the Fort Museum. In February 1845, four more receiving offices were opened, one each on [[Anna Salai|Mount Road]] and in [[Triplicane]] and two in [[Black Town]] (as George Town was known then). In 1854, a Post Office Act came into force, an organised postal system was established and stamps were first introduced. In 1855, two more receiving offices were opened in [[San Thomé]] and [[Teynampet]], near [[St. George's Cathedral, Chennai|St. George's Cathedral]]. The same year, the first letter-box had appeared in the city at Moubray's Road.<ref name="MadrasMusings_ChennaiGPO"/> Soon, six more receiving offices were opened across the town. In 1856, the Madras Post Office moved to ''Garden House'', Popham's Broadway, near the [[Kothawal Chavadi]] market.

The postal service grew when railway connections were established with the other Presidencies in 1871. By 1874, there were nine post offices in the city. The internal carriage of mail in Madras was by [[horse cart]] (''jutkas'') till 1918, though a beginning with motorised transport was made in 1915. The telegraph came to Madras in 1853 but was made available to the public only from 1 February 1855, when 41 offices covering a distance of 3,000 miles could be reached.<ref name="MadrasMusings_ChennaiGPO"/>

These expansions warranted a large central post office for receipt of mail and distribution. In 1868, the [[Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry|Madras Chamber of Commerce]] urged the Governments of India and Madras to build a large General Post Office in a central place. However, owing to the construction of GOPs in Calcutta and Bombay, both Government of India and Government of Madras were able to sanction only {{INR}} 200,000 for this purpose. In 1873, the present site, where the Abercrombie Battery had once stood, was selected and the construction started in 1874, but there was a lack of funds to proceed with the work till 1880. The site was initially intended to be divided between the [[Bank of Madras]] and the Post Office. However, the Chamber urged that both the post and telegraph departments be housed in one building, which necessitated an even bigger building, and the governments decided not to divide the land and allotted the whole to the new post office.

With the completion of the new building in the Indo-Saracenic style, the Madras Post Office moved into the present building in April 1884, which is its own, designed by British architect [[Robert Chisholm (architect)|Robert Chisholm]].<ref name="PostalHistoryInRuins">{{cite news
| last = Soman
| first = Sandhya
| author2=A. Selvaraj
| title = City's postal history in ruins
| location = Chennai
| date = 6 November 2011
| url = https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Citys-postal-history-in-ruins/articleshow/10626848.cms
| archive-url = https://archive.today/20130103155522/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-11-06/chennai/30366431_1_heritage-building-post-office-chief-postmaster
| archive-date = 3 January 2013
| newspaper = [[The Times of India]]
| url-status = live
| access-date = 11 Mar 2012}}</ref> The Postmaster-General shifted on 1 March 1884 from the place he was occupying in the [[Mercantile Bank of India, London and China|Mercantile Bank]] building further down the road, and the Broadway staff shifted on 26 April, the same year. The new building had cost {{INR}} 680,000 against an estimated {{INR}} 692,000,<ref name="MadrasMiscellany_GPOBegins">{{cite news
| last = Muthiah
| first = S.
| title = Madras miscellany - The Madras G.P.O. beginnings
| newspaper = The Hindu
| location = Chennai
| date =30 October 2011
| url = http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/metroplus/article2579909.ece
| access-date = 10 Mar 2012}}</ref> a considerable part of it contributed by the Madras Chamber of Commerce. The Presidency Postmaster was given residential accommodation on the second floor.

By the early 1990s, the post office was filled to capacity and the search for a new building started. However, the idea was abandoned due to opposition from the Madras Chamber of Commerce, and the post office continued to function from the old building.<ref name="PostalHistoryInRuins"/>

==The building==
[[File:General Post Office - Madras.jpg|180px|thumb|One of the ornamental towers in the building]]
The Chennai GPO building can be described as a red-painted Victorian County-Colonial or [[Victorian Gothic]]-Colonial overlay on [[Indo-Saracenic]] design. It is a three-storied building, 352 ft long and 162 ft wide, with 125-ft tall twin towers.<ref name="MadrasMusings_ChennaiGPO"/> The building is spread over an area of 6,085.30 square meters (66,000 square feet).<ref name="TH_PostalDeptTurnsToASI">{{cite news
| last = Lakshmi
| first = K.
| title = Postal department turns to ASI for building renovation
| newspaper = The Hindu
| location = Chennai
| date = 21 September 2017
| url = http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/postal-department-turns-to-asi-for-building-renovation/article19723656.ece
| access-date = 29 Sep 2017}}</ref> The twin towers, when built, sported the [[Kerala]] roof-influenced "caps" atop as favoured by Chisholm, influenced by his building assignments in [[Travancore]]. However, a storm in the mid-20th century removed these crowns.<ref name="MadrasMusings_ChennaiGPO">{{cite journal
| last = Adlakha
| first = Nidhi
| title = Ooty among postal heritage buildings... but not Chennai G.P.O.
| journal = Madras Musings
| volume = XX
| issue = 10
| date = 1–15 September 2010
| url = http://madrasmusings.com/Vol%2020%20No%2010/ooty-among-postal-heritage-buildings.html
| access-date = 12 Mar 2012}}</ref> Besides a high-ceilinged central hall, the ground floor provided space for stores, kitchen, servants, and so on. The first floor was used for offices and the second floor served as accommodation for officers.<ref name="MadrasMiscellany_GPOBegins"/> The building also had a unique exhaust facility meant to absorb the stink from the open drainage.<ref name="PostalHistoryInRuins"/>

==Functioning==
The Chennai GPO is the primary post office of South India and has the [[Postal Index Number]] (PIN) 600 001. The GPO handles most of the city's inbound and outbound mail and parcels. Chennai GPO operates from 8:00 am to 8:30 pm from Monday to Saturday. On Sundays, the GPO functions from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. Facilities available are speed post, registered post, parcel, insurance, e-billing, and e-posting. Chennai GPO has a 24-hour telegraph office.<ref name="ChennaiPost_MadrasGPO"/>

Chennai GPO is one of the five Philatelic Bureaus in the country (others being [[Mumbai GPO]], [[Kolkata GPO]], Parliament Street, and [[New Delhi GPO]]) that are authorised to sell the [[United Nations]] stamps.{{citation needed|date=November 2012}}

==Incidents==
On 23 October 2000, a fire gutted the building after which a major restoration was undertaken by the government. About 15,000 sq ft of the total 67,000 sq ft of built-up area was extensively damaged due to the fire, which included areas with the public counters, the main hall and the delivery hall, the savings bank halls and the foreign post department.<ref>{{cite news
|title = Chennai GPO gutted
|newspaper = Business Line
|location = Chennai
|publisher = The Hindu
|date = 24 October 2000
|url = http://www.hindu.com/businessline/2000/10/24/stories/142460r3.htm
|access-date = 10 May 2012
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080419073442/http://www.hindu.com/businessline/2000/10/24/stories/142460r3.htm
|archive-date = 19 April 2008
}}</ref> The restoration cost {{INR}} 36 million and was completed in 2005. On 26 November 2005, the first two floors were opened after renovation.<ref>{{cite news
| title = Renovated GPO inaugurated
| location = Chennai
| date = 27 November 2005
| url = http://www.hindu.com/2005/11/27/stories/2005112715670500.htm
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070321162459/http://www.hindu.com/2005/11/27/stories/2005112715670500.htm
| archive-date = 21 March 2007
| newspaper = [[The Hindu]]
| access-date = 10 May 2012}}</ref>

In 2011, a portion of the roof on the second floor of the GPO building collapsed due to monsoon rain. One of the domes atop the building, which was in a dilapidated condition due to heavy rains in the past, collapsed. However, nobody was reportedly injured.<ref>{{cite news
| title = Rain wreaks havoc in several areas
| newspaper = The Hindu
| location = Chennai
| date = 6 November 2011
| url = http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Chennai/article2603464.ece
| access-date = 11 Mar 2012}}</ref>

On 8 May 2019, a portion of tiles on the second floor of the post office building collapsed and fell inside the unused portion of the building. No one was injured in the incident.<ref>{{cite news
| title = Tiles collapse at GPO; no one injured
| newspaper = The Hindu
| location = Chennai
| pages = 3
| publisher = Kasturi & Sons
| date = 9 May 2019
| url = https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/tiles-collapse-at-gpo-no-one-injured/article27073743.ece
| access-date = 12 May 2019}}</ref>

==Major Initiatives==
Chennai GPO launched a financial inclusion drive to provide post office Saving account to the poor of the poorest at cost of {{INR}}50 linked with mobile and [[aadhaar]]. The account was also secured under PMSBY.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://utnnews.in/financial-inclusion-campaign-launched-by-chennai-gpo-and-helped-more-than-150-poor-muslim-women-through-the-scheme/|title=Financial Inclusion Campaign launched by Chennai GPO and helped more than 150 poor muslim women through the scheme – UTN NEWS|website=utnnews.in|language=ta-LK|access-date=2018-01-05}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> A drive was launched by Chennai GPO<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/postal-department-campaign-to-popularise-its-services/article21014201.ece|title=Postal department campaign to popularise its services|date=2017-11-28|work=The Hindu|access-date=2018-01-05|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> to popularize postal service's among masses. Post office Saving Accounts were provided to the unbanked marginalized people of Chennai. Special drive for Fisherman<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/india-post-takes-pms-1-month-insurance-scheme-to-fishermen/articleshow/62015444.cms|title=India Post takes PM's 1 month insurance scheme to fishermen - Times of India|work=The Times of India|access-date=2018-01-05}}</ref> known as "Sagar " was launched by Chennai GPO under the leadership of Alok Ojha to provide Insurance cover to Fisherman. A special help desk has been created in Chennai GPO for supporting the transgender community.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.pressreader.com/india/the-hindu/20171221/281608125795380 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180106120016/https://www.pressreader.com/india/the-hindu/20171221/281608125795380 |archive-date=2018-01-06 |title=Helpdesk for transgenders at GPO |newspaper=The Hindu |via=PressReader|access-date=2018-01-05}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/helpdesk-for-transgenders-at-gpo/article22120000.ece|title=Helpdesk for transgenders at GPO|date=2017-12-21|work=The Hindu|access-date=2018-01-05 |language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> An aadhaar enrollment centre has also been started in Chennai GPO to help [[Transgender|transgender people]] and other marginalized sections of society.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/helpdesk-for-transgenders/article22218510.ece|title=Helpdesk for transgenders|date=2017-12-22|work=The Hindu|access-date=2018-01-05 |language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/more-post-offices-to-join-aadhaar-drive/article21830309.ece|title=More post offices to join Aadhaar drive|last=Lakshmi|first=K.|date=2017-12-18|work=The Hindu|access-date=2018-01-05|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

==Restoration==
In 2018, the Department of Posts began the process of restoring the heritage structure. As the first step, an amount of {{INR}} 1.5 million has been sanctioned for detailed project report.<ref>{{cite news
| last = Lakshmi
| first = K.
| title = Iconic General Post Office to finally get a makeover
| newspaper = The Hindu
| location = Chennai
| date = 28 June 2018
| url = https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/iconic-general-post-office-to-finally-get-a-makeover/article24274117.ece
| access-date = 15 July 2018}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|India}}
* [[Architecture of Chennai]]
* [[Heritage structures in Chennai]]
* [[Indian Postal Service]]
* [[General Post Office, Kolkata]]
* [[General Post Office, Mumbai]]
* [[General Post Office, New Delhi]]
* [[General Post Office, Old Delhi]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* [http://www.chennaipost.gov.in/chennaigpo.aspx Official website of Chennai Post] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111109173019/http://www.chennaipost.gov.in/chennaigpo.aspx |date=9 November 2011 }}

{{Chennai Topics}}
{{Postal administrations of Asia}}

[[Category:Buildings and structures in Chennai]]
[[Category:Post office buildings in India|C ]]
[[Category:Heritage sites in Chennai]]

General Post Office, Chennai - Revision history

imported>Saprativadhikary: Info...