Postal Manual Volume VII

GDS to Postman Exam Syllabus for Postal Manual Volume VII

(1) Every set is supplied with the following stamp and seals :

a) a date stamp

b) a name stamp

c) a date -seal

d) ‘Detained Late Fee Not Paid’stamp

(2) Each set of a Sorting Mail Office is further supplied with an insurance seal, enclosed in a box provided with a lock and key. The insurance seal must always remain in the possession of the Head Sorting Assistant who will be held responsible for its safe custody.

(3) With each date-stamp and seal is supplied a type-box, on the lid of which is painted the designation of the section or office and the number of the set to which the box belongs. Type-boxes, containing the type not in use and the name stamps are kept in the Record office (except those offices/sections the staff of which are exempt from RO attendance.)

NOTE: In addition, special date seals are supplied to the registration and parcel departments, when there are separate registration and Parcel Sorting Assistants, and to the mail departments of a Sorting Mail Office where the duties connected with the exchange of mails are performed by an official other than the Head Sorting Assistant. Also ‘Detained Late Fee Note Paid’ stamp is supplied to mail offices/sections which deal with letter box clearance.

23 Stationery :-

(1) The stationery rate list issued by the Superintendent shows the quantity or number of the articles of stationery to be supplied to each set of every section and mail office in the Division.

(2) The Head sorting Assistant of a mail office, should at the commencement of each day’s work, give out a stock sufficient only for the day’s requirements, and the remainder of the articles should be kept under lock and key.

(3) The Head sorting Assistant of each set of the various sections attached to a Record Office will be supplied by the Record Officer, on the Ist of every month, with a month’s supply of stationery, for which he will give a receipt in the stationery register. He should keep this stock in a spare bag which, after he has given out the articles required for the set for one trip, should be closed and sealed with the date seal of the set and deposited for custody, under lock and key, by the Record Officers in the box provided for it at the Record Office. At the end of the month, the unconsumed articles (if any) should be detailed and deposited.

28. Preparation of daily report (M.S.83). –

(1) The Head Sorting Assistant is required to submit to the Superintendent (or the Superintendent (Sorting) as the case may be)through the Record Officer, a daily report in which the irregularities observed by him, or reported to him by the other Sorting Assistants of the set must be brought to notice. The daily report should be written by the Head Sorting Assistant from the rough notebooks of the set. A list of the important irregularities etc. is given in the next rule. In making each entry, the Head Sorting Assistant should write, in the appropriate column, first the name of the office/section of the official at fault or otherwise concerned, and following this a brief statement of the occurrence, worded as concisely as possible, but furnishing all necessary particulars. In every case in which a telegraph/fax is dispatched by the set, the message should be copied into the daily report where the time of dispatch, class and name of the station from which it was sent, should also be mentioned. These particulars should be taken from the copy of the message left in the book of service messages. Telegrams/faxes received by the set should be attached in original to the daily report, the action (if any) taken on them being stated in the report. If the Head Sorting Assistant is empowered to apply for extra train accommodation, he should forward with his daily report a carbon copy of the requisition made by him for such accommodation.

(2)The entries in the daily report should be numbered in one consecutive series for each report, and each entry neatly copied in a form of extract report, which should bear the same number as the entry to which it relates.

(3)In Mail Offices where LSG Supervisors have been sanctioned in addition to LSG/HSG Head Sorting Assistants, each LSG Supervisor will submit a daily note in a prescribed form to the Head Sorting Assistant who will forward it to the Divisional Office through the Record Officer along with hid daily report. On receipt of these daily notes in the Divisional Office, they will be carefully scrutinized and after taken necessary action filed along with the daily report of the Head Sorting Assistant.

(4) Supervisor, Speed Post Centre will also use the same format MS (83) for submitting his daily report to the Manager, Speed Post.

39. Mail abstract (M.42 for Transit Sections and M-43 for Mail Offices) -

(1) The mail abstract is divided into two parts, viz., “Mails” and “Bags”.

(6) The former (or part headed “Mails” ) shows, on the left hand side under the head “Receipts”, the number of due mails due to be received and the number actually received, and the number of unusual mails received, the bags opened by the section or office and forward bags being shown separately; and on the right-hand side under the head “Dispatches”, the number of due mails due to be dispatched and the number actually dispatched, the bags closed by the section or office and forward bags being shown separately. The totals of forward bags on both side should agree.

(7) The latter (or part headed :Bags”) shows, on the left-hand side under the head “Receipts”, the number of empty bags of each description due to be received from the UBO/DBO as the case may be, and on the right-hand side under the head “Dispatches” the number of bags of each description due to be dispatched with the due mails closed by the section or office and number actually dispatched, the number dispatched and the number returned to the record or sub-record office. The totals on both side should agree. Particulars of the bags received and dispatched (including insured bags and bags used a s coverings for paid station and registered bundles) are given on the reverse of the form.

(8) The mail abstract also shows in what cases due mails, opened or closed by the section or office, or forward bags which are not accompaniedby mail lists are received for dispatched short or in excess of the number due, with an explanation in each case of the cause of the difference, and in what cases the description of bags received or dispatched with due mails opened or closed by the section or office, or as surplus due bags, differs from the description due.

(9) The information as to the number of due bags to be received/opened by the set and the number of empty canvas/drill bags to be received with due bags opened is to be provided by the Record Officer, before issue of mail abstract to the set.

NOTE: 1 The bags used for extra mail and transit bags, paid station bundle and registered bundles, if any, addressed to or made up by a transit section or sorting mail office should be accounted for in the mail abstract in the same way as bags received and dispatched with unusual mails, except that a reference should be placed against the entry of the number in the body of the abstract under head “ Details of unusual bags” and the remark “including (number) extra bags” preceded by a similar sign should be written in the blank space at the foot of the form. The bags used for extra transit bags addressed to or made up by a transit section or mail office should be accounted for in the mail abstract in the same way, except that the word “extra” should be substituted for the work “unusual’ in the printed entry on the face of the form and in the heading on the reverse.

NOTE: 2 In the case of sections, the entries for the out and in trips are shown separately in the mail abstract.

40. Exchange of Mail –

(1) the Due mail list of a section shows the stations and that of mail office the hours at which mails are received and dispatched and also the details of the mails and in what cases they will be enclosed in transit bags.

(2) The Mail Agent/Mail Guard of a section or any other official specified for the purpose should, on the arrival of the train at station where mails are to be exchanged, take delivery of the mails for the set before giving out those for dispatch, and the Mail Agent/Mail Guard of a mail office should first make over the bags for dispatch and then take delivery of those of the office.

EXCEPTION - At important stations where a large number of bags is exchanged, the Head of Circle may authorize the Mail Agent/Mail Guard of a section to deliver his mails before receiving those for onward transmission, in order to make room in the mail van.

(3) The carrier (Head Sorting Assistant, Mail Agent, Mail Peon, or other official appointed for the purpose) who exchanges mails with a section is not permitted to enter the van and whenever possible, the bags should be passed through the door / window of the van. Mails exchanged between a mail office and the local Post Office should be received and delivered at the door of the mail office, the carrier not being permitted to enter.

NOTE: 1 – The Postmaster-General may where considered necessary, permit officials of mail office to enter the mail van of a section to help in loading or unloading mails.

NOTE: 2 - The Head Sorting Assistant, Mail Agent or any other official of a mail office may enter the mail van of a section for opening or closing cage TBs prescribed in the due mail list.

NOTE : 3 - The exchange of mail should be done at both the doorways of main entrance and mail carriage portions of the sections whenever it is necessary and prescribed.

(4)In all cases of exchange of mails, where no mail list is used, the receipt should be taken for a bag in receipt book by the Post Office, mail office or section. In other cases, receipt should be taken by the mail carrier in the Mail Peon’s Book (Form MS-28).

NOTE : 1 Every section must carry spare loose forms of mail list to prepare the triplicate copy of Mail list, prescribed in this rule, when necessary. NOTE : 2 In large mail offices and sections where it would be impracticable for the Head Sorting Assistant or other official to whom the duty is delegated by the Head of Circle to be performed on behalf of the Head Sorting Assistant to personally attend to the duties connected with the exchange of mails, part or whole of the work may under the orders of Head of Circle be performed by an official or officials specially appointed for the purpose or the Second Sorting Assistant, as the case may be, the duties so distributed being shown in the memo of distribution of work issued by the Superintendent. In such offices and sections, the official concerned and the Head Sorting Assistant must enter in the mail lists exchanged from time to time every bag or article transferred from one official to another, the signature of the receiving officer being taken in the mail lists concerned.

41. Cage T.B –

If the Case TB of a mail van is addressed to the mail office of a terminal station by a mail office of originating station, the Head Sorting Assistant should enter the van and after examining the seal and fastening to ascertain whether they have been tampered with or not, should open the Cage TB and examine the seals, cords, labels and condition of the bags and check them with the mail list contained in it. The bag should then be taken delivery of. The key of the Cage T.B is to be forwarded in a sealed cover.

42. Disposal of mails addressed to a section or mail office –

(1) The transit bags (if any) addressed to a section or mail office should be opened by the Mail Guard or Mail Agent himself, and the bags especially the account bags and branch office bags enclosed in them should be carefully examined and compared with the entries in the mail lists, which will be found inside the transit bags. In the case of a sorting mail office, the bag addressed to office itself, whether taken out of transit bags or received loose, should be dealt with first and disposed of in the following manner :-

(a) Parcel bags should be entered in the mail abstract and then transferred, under receipt (to be taken in the parcel abstract) to the Parcel Sorting Assistant ; and

(b) mail bags, branch office bags and packet bags should be dealt with in the manner prescribed by the rules in the next chapter.

(2) The forward bags including sacks containing surplus unusual bags received by section, whether taken out of transit bags or received loose, should be separated and disposed of in the following manner :-

(a) those to be delivered at stations within the beat of the section should be at once placed in the transit bags in which they are to be forwarded or if no transit bag is prescribed, they should be hung on separate hooks in the order of the stations at which they are to be delivered.

(b) those to be delivered at the terminal station should be hung up together on the hooks at one end of the van;

(3)The forward bags received by a sorting or transit mail office, whether taken out of transit bags or received loose, will remain in the custody of the Head Sorting Assistant until it is time to dispatch them ; and so long as the bags are not disposed of, they must be kept locked up in the mail box, the key of which must always be retained by the Head Sorting Assistant on his person

45. Closing of transit bags –

(1) When a transit bag is to be made up, the bags, due and unusual, to be dispatched in it should be checked with the entries in the mail list. The condition of each bag, the cord with which it is tied, the label and the seal, must be carefully examined by the Head Sorting Assistant/Mail Guard/Mail Agent and bags, with the mail list, placed by him in the transit bag, which should then be labeled and closed and sealed in the manner prescribed.

(2)Transit bags must always be closed and sealed in the presence, and under the direct supervision, of the Head Sorting Assistant/Head Mail Guard/Mail Agent.

105. Duties and responsibilities of the Mail Guard or Mail Agent –

(1) The duties of the Mail Guard or Mail Agent comprise the work connected with the receipt, custody, sorting and dispatch of articles posted in the van or office and of closed mails. His responsibility begins when articles are cleared from letter-boxes or when closed mails are made over to him by a section, office or carrier, and continues until the bags are delivered or dispatched to destination. The Mail Guard or Mail Agent has nothing to do with the articles contained in the closed mails made over to him for disposal, but transit bags addressed to the section or office are opened and the bags contained in them are disposed of by him.

(2) The Mail Guard or Mail Agent is responsible that the articles and bags dealt with by him are carefully examined, properly treated and correctly disposed of, that the contents of transit bags and-in the case of a transit mail office authorized to perform registration work – of the registered bags and registered bundles closed by him are correct; that the bags and bundles are securely fastened and properly labelled and sealed; that torn or otherwise unserviceable bags are not used; that all irregularities and unusual occurrences connected with his work are promptly detected and brought to notice; and that his work -papers are completed and correctly prepared

115. Final duties before quitting van or office.-

(1) The Mail Agent or Mail Guard should examine the fittings, lamps etc., of the van to see that nothing has been damaged or lost. He should replace the stamps, seals, books, etc., in the portfolio, put the empty bags for return to the Record Office in the bag provided for the purpose and label and seal the letter bag. He should then give out the mails to be delivered and, if the trip is ended at a changing station, make over the mails, for the relieving set to the office in charge together with the sectional mail list.

(2) The Mail Agent should examine and check the articles detailed in the List of Articles and see that the articles of stationery, stamps, seals, books etc., are carefully put away; that the bag containing empty bags for return to the record office is labeled and sealed; that the mail box is properly secured and that the office room is swept and everything arranged in a tidy and orderly manner. He should then lock the office room and retain the key in his personal custody if there is no relieving Mail Agent, but if there is a succeeding set he will make over the deposit mails under entry in the mail list and hand over charge of the office to his reliever.

A Orders and B Orders.-

A orders are orders issued by a Superintendent, RMS prescribing changes in sorting lists.

B orders are orders issued by a Superintendent, RMS for the guidance of the subordinates in the performance of their duties in Mail Offices on all subjects except alternations in sorting lists.