Postal Manual Vol. VIII - India Post

308. Memorandum book – The Town Inspector should keep a rough memorandum book
in which he should make entries regarding any matters worthy of note which would not ordinarily
be placed on official record. All occurrences coming under his notice, which can be used
subsequently for the application of checks on the offices under him or on the working of postmen
or letter-box peons, should be noted in this book, which should be handed to his successor.
309. Postal map of town – The Town Inspector should maintain a postal map of his
jurisdiction in accordance with the instructions on the subject in the Posts and Telegraphs Manual,
Volume II.
310. Delivery beat lists - (1) the Town Inspector must make himself familiar with the
delivery beats of all the postmen in the town. To enable him to do so, the postmaster will prepare
and furnish him with a book which will be in two parts :-
(a) A complete list of all the delivery bears into which the town is divided with a list of the
main quarters of the town, the streets, and chief places of public business or trade in each
beat, arranged according to the order of delivery in the beats.
(b) An alphabetical list of all the main queries of the town, the streets, and chief places of
public business or trade in the town with the numbers of the beats in which they are
located.
(2) The Town Inspector should see that every postman is thoroughly acquainted with the
localities in his own beat and is familiar with the names and addresses of all the permanent
residents. For this purpose, he should, from time to time, test each postman’s knowledge of his
beat by examining him in the beat list, and should record the result in his diary for the postmaster’s
information. The delivery beat lists should be added to, or corrected, from time to time as changes
are ordered by the postmaster, and the book should be made over by the Inspector to his successor.
311.Tests – It is the Town Inspector’s duty to see that outside letter-boxes are cleared
punctually at the hour fixed, and that they are in good condition and properly painted. When he
passes a letter-box he should satisfy himself that the hour -late exposed is the correct one. He
should, also, when he meets a letter-box peon, examine the hour plates in his custody to see that he
is upto time. The clearance of the head office and the town sub-office letter-boxes should also be
tested as frequently as possible by posting test-letters and cards to the postmaster. The Town
Inspector should also frequently post test-cards addressed to himself. All test-letters and cards
should be posted 3 or 4 minutes before the hour of next clearance of the letter-box. All letterboxes
in the jurisdiction of a Town Inspector must be tested once quarterly, simultaneously, at a
time unknown to the letter-box peon and a report submitted to the Divisional Superintendent. The
Town Inspector should also apply other checks to test the efficiency and honesty of sub and branch
postmasters, postmen and letter box peons under his control. Whenever test is applied by the
Town Inspector, he should record the fact in his diary (Gen.-3) and also attach to it the test-letters
and cards with a brief remarks as to the result of each test.
312. Supervision over postmen – (1) The postmen, while in the office are under the
supervision of the delivery clerk but as soon as they leave he office. The Town Inspector is
responsible for their movements.
(2) The Town Inspector should attend at least two of the more important deliveries every
day, sign the statement of deliveries if authorised to be kept up in the delivery department under
the orders of the Head of the Circle and leave the office with the postmen wear their belts and
badges when on duty, that they are dressed neatly and clearly, that they do not loiter about after
they leave the office but proceed immediately on their beats, that they do not deviate from the beat