160-yr-Old Telegram Ends, Rahul Gandhi Receives Last Message

New Delhi: Just 15 minutes to midnight, the iconic telegram breathed its last in the capital with the last message sent to Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi.
     
The telegram counter closed at 11:45 PM and the revenue collected was 68,837 as the country bade adieu to the harbinger of good and bad news for generations of Indians.
 
The total booking today was 2,197 of which billing through computer accounted for 1,329 and phone booking 91, a senior telegraph officer said.
 
The last telegram was booked at the counter of Central Telegraph Office (CTO) Janpath by one Ashwani Mishra, who sent messages to Gandhi and Director General of DD news SM Khan.
 
CTO had collected forms from many individuals and these will be manually handled, the officer said.

The history of Indian telecom started with the first experimental electric telegraph line that was started between Calcutta and Diamond Harbour. The following year, the British East India Company began to use it.

The telecom service was available to the masses from the year 1854. Till the year 1902, telegraphs were sent by wires after which it adopted the wireless method.