India's XI Definitive Stamp Series - Makers of India

Update 6 on 29 May 2016: One more of the four remaining definitive stamps - on Gopinath Bordoloi - in the Makers of India series is available for purchase on ePostOffice. It was likely supplied to post offices from mid-April 2017. Just three more stamps are pending to be issued to complete the series. There was discussion in the philatelic community about new Makers of India postcards and inland letters as well, but nothing has been seen so far.

Update 5 on 18 Dec 2016: It's been quite a while since this post was last updated. The key points to note is that most of the stamps, except four of the planned 27 stamps have been issued and available for purchase on ePostOffice or at the local post offices. The stamps that were put on sale in the second and third quarter of 2016 are listed below along with the ones that are yet to be issued. We urge India Post to put the remaining four stamps in circulation as soon as possible, to complete this new definitive series.

Released Q2 2016 onward
Bhimsen Joshi
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
Jawaharlal Nehru
Maharana Pratap
M. S. Subbulakshmi
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Subhash Chandra Bose

Pending stamps
Gopinath Bordoloi
Mother (Saint) Teresa
Rabindranath Tagore
Thiruvalluvar

Update 4 on 01 Apr 2016: A lot of the definitive stamps in this series are now available across many post offices and even online at ePostOffice. Just posting an update to the grid/list below. Green indicates that the stamp has been sold at at least one post office in India. Although not technically sound, it appears to be an overall good decision to have started a new definitive stamp series. It has a much needed freshness to it. Happy Collecting!

Update 3 on 23 Jan 2016: Sharing an image for 19 of the definitive stamps for this new stamp series. Only a handful of them (8 more) remain to be seen. Some of these might be available soon. Let's go looking for these stamps on mail or in local post offices.

Update 2 on 18  Dec 2015: Here's a major overhaul of the Makers of India Stamp Series. Below is a final version of the stamp series with a total of 27 personalities and one Yoga stamp. The denominations for all the stamps is shown as well. Better Philately is most likely the first source of this information for philatelists. Happy Holidays!

A few points of note: 
1. Gopinath Bordoloi has been included in the stamp series, so have Srinivasa Ramanujan, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Thiruvalluvar. 
2. Karpuri Thakur no longer features on the final list.
3. An additional stamp on Yoga (25 Paise) will also be released along with the personality series. There was even a mention of inland letter cards or airmail letter cards with the Yoga theme as well.
4. There will be no 2 Rupees or 15 Rupees stamps in this definitive series.
5. Removed references to release dates. Neither official dates for first day of issuance are being announced nor first day covers are being provided. So, it doesn't provide a fair opportunity to know the stamp release date for this series.

Update 1: Added Bhagat Singh, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Moulana Abul Kalam Azad and Ram Manohar Lohia stamp date and denomination. Appears to be an odd move to release a bulk of the new stamps in 5 rupees denomination.

As a response to the less representative Builders of Modern India stamp series, a new one is being put in place. As of early December 2015, seven 5 Rupees stamps have already been released. This new list has not been put out officially, but is a guess based on news information in the last few months. Mainstream media had enjoyed a week long spectacle when the Indira and Rajiv Gandhi stamp sales were halted in July 2015. Government officials presented their case during this time and provided insight into this new stamp series as well. Three of the guesses have so far been accurate based on this list. Additional updated for first known sale date will be added as it becomes available. There will be no first day covers (FDC) or an official release date for this series of stamps, so one has to be content with approximate release dates based on first availability of the stamps in post offices.

The number of personalities, presumably to be honored with the new stamp series is more than twice the previous definitive stamp series, but appears to cover a wider range of historical figures, political, social and spiritual leaders. Although more representative it is still missing a sports personality, a representative of North-East India and and an industrialist. If given a choice, the following should be included as well:

Dhirubhai Ambani, Aurobindo, G. D. Birla, Gopinath Bordoloi, Dhyan Chand, Satish Dhawan, Tenzing Norgay, Dadasaheb Phalke, Munshi Premchand and Vikram Sarabhai.

Although, not ideal, the best way to enable a larger series of stamps could be by printing limited quantities for each personality. This would prevent from a glut of the definitive stamps in post offices and could end up adversely impacting sale of commemorative stamps as well. Many post offices tend to sell overstock commemorative stamps along with the definitive stamps to remove dead stock and also provide variety to customers. Anyways, given that the new stamp series was initiated so soon after the public discussion, a blog post for initial thoughts and a way to track progress of the Makers of India stamp series seemed appropriate.

Makers of India – Eleventh Definitive Stamp Series (2015 onward)

Issue Description	Contribution to Making India	Denomination
Mahatma Gandhi	Indian Independence	25 Paise
Subramania Bharathi	Writer & Poet Indian Independence	50 Paise
Bal Gangadhar Tilak	Indian Independence – Home Rule League	Re 1
Bhimsen Joshi	Arts & Culture (Singer)	Rs 3
Bismillah Khan	Arts & Culture (Shehnai Player)	Rs 3
M. S. Subbulakshmi	Arts & Culture (Singer)	Rs 3
Ravi Shankar	Arts & Culture (Sitar Player)	Rs 3
Srinivasa Ramanujan	Mathematics	Rs 4
Bhagat Singh	Indian Independence – Socialist Republican Association	Rs 5
Deendayal Upadhyaya	Integral Humanism Led Bharatiya Jana Sangh	Rs 5
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar	Indian Constitution Modern Buddhist Movement	Rs 5
Gopinath Bordoloi	Indian Independence Assam Chief Minister	Rs 5
Jayaprakash Narayan	Indian Independence Total Revolution of 1970s	Rs 5
Jawaharlal Nehru	Indian Independence First Prime Minister	Rs 5
Lal Bahadur Shastri	Indian Independence Second Prime Minister	Rs 5
Moulana Abul Kalam Azad	Indian Independence First Education Minister	Rs 5
Rajendra Prasad	Indian Independence First President of India	Rs 5
Ram Manohar Lohia	Indian Independence Socialist Leader	Rs 5
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel	Indian Independence First Home Minister/Deputy Prime Minister Integrated 600 Small States	Rs 5
Subhash Chandra Bose	Indian Independence Pre-Independence National Army	Rs 5
Swami Vivekananda	Indian Philosophy – Vedanta & Yoga	Rs 5
Shyama Prasad Mukherjee	Indian Independence Founded Bharatiya Jana Sangh	Rs 5
Thiruvalluvar	Ancient Tamil Poetry & Philosophy	Rs 5
Chhatrapati Shivaji	Warrior & Ideal Rule of Maratha Empire	Rs 10
Maharana Pratap	Gallantry Warrior & Rule of Mewar Empire	Rs 10
Mother Teresa	Catholic Religious Sister Missionaries of Charity	Rs 20
Rabindranath Tagore	Indian Independence Indian Writing & Poetry India’s National Anthem	Rs 50

Paid News? An Analysis on Indian Media from 2005 to 2013

Although, no political allegiances are declared and no biases for political ideologies made known to the customers, Indian news media, both print and television are considered 'independent'. Readers most likely discover the owners' political leanings through the course of their lifetimes and have no control over the outcomes. Such is also the case with postage stamp releases by India Post in the last decade or so. Among the 20 most read newspapers in India, about half of them have had stamps released for their 'achievements' in journalism. This in itself appears to be quite a feat! Shown below are 16 postage stamps that have direct association with Indian newspapers and were released between 2005 and 2013.

Two of these newspapers, The Times of India and Malayala Manorama have also managed to get multiple stamps released for their organizations. A 'golden' stamp was released in 1988 to commemorate 150 years of The Times of India. It seemed appropriate to celebrate this milestone for a widely read newspaper, but to commemorate the same newspaper 25 years later - especially when it's publishing standards have arguably been deteriorating (some even calling it journalism that sells) - is questionable. Malayala Manorama has been the most fortunate of the lot. In the last 25 years, this newspaper has been obliged with three Indian postage stamps. The first instance appeared well deserved, when the newspaper achieved its centenary in 1988. There were two other instances when K. M. Mathew, Manorama's Editor-in-Chief was honored in 2011 and its 125 years celebration in 2013. Even if one were to consider K. M. Mathew for this honor, it would have been best to commemorate his birth centenary in 2017. 

These recent stamp issues glaringly flout the stamp issuance guidelines and appear to be a result of haphazard decision-making that provides discretionary powers to the government minister and officials. Stamp collectors and the common man deserve to know more about the process and final selections with regard to the stamp issue programs. Increased transparency, reliable research for subject development and a stamp advisory committee with more powers will go a long way to prevent this from recurrence. 

Postage stamps issues for magazines, newspapers and personalities associated with news media. The legend below tabulates the stamp issues and their associations with various newspapers.

#	Issue Description	Associated Newspaper, Etc.	Year
1	Puran Chandra Gupta	Dainik Jagaran	2013
2	Dr. Krishna Kumar Birla	Hindustan Times	2009
3	Jawaharlal Darda	Lokmat	2005
4	T. V. Ramasubbaiyer	Dinamalar	2008
5	Durga Prasad Chaudhary	Dainik Navjyoti	2012
6	Lala Jagat Narain	Punjab Kesari	2013
7	G. G. Jadhav	Pudhari	2009
8	Karpoor Chandra Kulish	Rajasthan Patrika	2012
9	Ramgopal Maheshwari	Central Chronicle-Nav Bharat	2012
10	The Tribune	The Tribune	2006
11	Doot	Gujarati Catholic Monthly	2011
12	Chitralekha / Vaju Kotak	Gujarati Weekly	2011
13	K. M. Mathew	Malayala Manorama	2011
14	Malayala Manorama	Malayala Manorama	2013
15	The Times of India	The Times of India	2013
16	Dineshnandini Dalmia*	The Times of India	2009

*Hindi author, but also married to Ram Krishna Dalmia, founder of the The Times Group that 

owns the The Times of India

#

Issue Description

Associated Newspaper, Etc.

Year

1

Puran Chandra Gupta

Dainik Jagaran

2013

2

Dr. Krishna Kumar Birla

Hindustan Times

2009

3

Jawaharlal Darda

Lokmat

2005

4

T. V. Ramasubbaiyer

Dinamalar

2008

5

Durga Prasad Chaudhary

Dainik Navjyoti

2012

6

Lala Jagat Narain

Punjab Kesari

2013

7

G. G. Jadhav

Pudhari

2009

8

Karpoor Chandra Kulish

Rajasthan Patrika

2012

9

Ramgopal Maheshwari

Central Chronicle-Nav Bharat

2012

10

The Tribune

The Tribune

2006

11

Doot

Gujarati Catholic Monthly

2011

12

Chitralekha / Vaju Kotak

Gujarati Weekly

2011

13

K. M. Mathew

Malayala Manorama

2011

14

Malayala Manorama

Malayala Manorama

2013

15

The Times of India

The Times of India

2013

16

Dineshnandini Dalmia*

The Times of India

2009

The Times of India postage stamps. Sesquicentennial celebrations in 1988 (left) and 175 years celebrations in 2013 (right)

More fortunate, Malyala Manorama. Three stamps commemorating the newspaper and its journalism. Centenary year stamp (1988; left), K. M. Mathew, Editor-in-Chief (2011; middle) and 125 years celebrations in 2013 (right).