Postal Manual Vol. VIII - India Post

345. Thumb and finger impressions. – When the thumb and finger impressions of an
official re required on any document, the officer in whose presence the impressions are taken
should enter his name and designation below the impressions as well as the date on which they are
taken. In taking thumb and finger impressions, printer’s ink (which is supplied for use with metal
stamps) should be used with the special pad provided for the purpose, and the following
instructions should be observed ;-
All grease and dirt should first be carefully removed from the ball of the left thumb and
all the fingers of the left hand. They should then be wiped dry. The thumb should then be laid on
the inked pad and very lightly rolled from left to right until it is sufficiently inked. It should then
be very lightly rolled on the document on which an impression is required. The thumb should be
fairly laid on the paper and a complete impression obtained by rolling it once from left to right.
This process should be repeated with each of the fingers in turn until impressions of all have been
obtained. It should be recollected that if the thumb or any of the fingers is rubbed or allowed to
slip either on the pad or paper, a good impression cannot be secured. It is always advisable to take
one or two experimental impressions on waste paper before finally making impressions on any
document.
346. Deleted.
347. Huts for runners. – Where huts are provided for the accommodation of runners, they
are erected at the public expense but strict economy must be observed in building them. The
cheapest materials should be used in their construction, and the runners themselves should
ordinarily be utilised for the necessary labour. Runners must also keep their huts in repair, through
materials, such as bamboos and rope, which they cannot themselves, supply, may, when necessary,
be furnished to them for the purpose. It will be the duty of the overseer frequently to inspect the
condition of the huts in his beat and to see that they are kept in good repair.
348. Disbursement of pay*.- (1) The overseer is entrusted with the duty of disbursing the
pay of the road establishment of the mail line or lines under his charge, when the runners cannot,
owing to the situation of their homes and stages, conveniently obtain their pay direct from a post
office. He will be held responsible that every runner whom he is ordered to pay received his pay
in full, that no unauthorised deductions are made, that the amounts due to substitutes are correctly
disbursed and that no avoidable delay occurs in distributing pay.
(2) The overseer should attend on the date and at the office specified by the Superintendent,
to receive the pay due to the road establishment. The amount to be paid will be made over to him
under receipt, together with acquittance rolls containing particulars of the pay and allowances to be
paid. He should then proceed at once along the line and pay the runners, taking care to make every
payment in the presence of a witness, and to obtain the payee’s signature, seal, or mark in the
acquittance roll.
NOTE 1. – When there is a post office at or near a stage, the runners should invariably be paid, by
the postmaster. In all cases in which payment is made by the overseer the headman of the village or some
other respectable resident, whose name should be recorded in the acquittance roll, should be asked to
witness the payment.
NOTE 2 – In cases in which money is paid to illiterate runners, the payee’s thumb-impression
should, whenever practicable, be taken on the acquittance roll.
NOTE 3.- The pay due to a deceased runner should not be paid to any person claiming it without the
previous sanction of the Superintendent or the First Class Postmaster, as the case may be. In all such cases,
the overseer should return the pay due to the deceased runner, to the postmaster and furnish him with such
evidence of the claimant’s title to the money as may be available. The postmaster, unless he is a first class
postmaster, will then take steps to obtain the Superintendent’s orders as to the payment of the amount.