In an attempt to revive letter-writing, India Post started the first-ever franchisee of a post office in West Bengal, at one of the book stores of the city on Friday.

“We started the franchisee in the state so that more people can avail of postal services. Being a book store, children are the major visitors, so it will inculcate the habit of writing letters and generate their interest in various stamps,” said Sheuli Burman, Director, Genral Post Office.

He added: “There will also be stamps of all kinds on display in the store.”

At the first franchisee post office of its kind in the country at the Starmark book store in Kolkata, anyone can buy post cards, stamps and then even post their letters in the letter box that will be placed inside the store.

With almost 9,028 post offices of all kinds in West Bengal, post office officials agreed that there has been a decreasing number of personalised post cards and letters in general.

The number of personalised letters and postcards have gone down by approximately 40 per cent at General Post Office.