The US Postal Service (USPS) has rejected reports that will discontinue the “forever” Diwali stamp if there aren’t enough sales. Mark Saunders of the corporate communications division of USPS headquarters, told Indian American Times, “The Postal Service is excited about celebrating the festival of Diwali on a Forever stamp and has no plans to remove them from sale,” .

Some Indian American organizations, addressed to the community, in mass emails claiming the stamp, issued earlier this month, would be discontinued.

Saunders reiterated the record-breaking popularity of the stamp, saying, “Due to the popularity of the stamp some Post Offices may have temporarily sold out. The easiest way to purchase the stamps is online at usps.com and then click the buy stamps icon and scroll down to the Diwali stamp.”

Indian American organizations and individuals, including Maryland-based social activist Mayur Mody, had urged members of the community to order the stamp and use it to send Diwali and New Year cards. They have already claimed that the stamp would be discontinued if it does not sell enough.

On October 5, the USPS commemorated Diwali by issuing the stamp and holding a first-day-of-issue dedication ceremony at the Indian consulate in New York. This was the first stamp to commemorate Hinduism.

The stamp bears a picture of a ‘diya’ or Diwali lamp. The diya had been photographed by Sally Andersen-Bruce, the stamp was designed by Greg Breeding, and William J Gicker of the postal service was the project’s art director.

Ranju Batra, an Indian American, supervised the Diwali Stamp Project for years.
USPS vice president of mail entry and payment technology Pritha Mehra had said, “We hope these stamps will light up millions of cards and letters as they make their journey through the mailstream.”

Indian Americans first began working for a Diwali stamp 16 years ago, according to MR Rangaswami, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who has been involved in the project.

Also Read: US Postal Service to issue Diwali 'forever' stamp

By Prakriti Neogi