Postal Manual Vol. VIII - India Post

(i)
(ii)
reduce the work of the intervening section and thus secure material advantages,
such as, relief to an over-burdened section or curtailment of reserved
accommodation, and
not complicate the sorting lists and bag account.
(5) With the concurrence of the Heads of Circles concerned, territorial and territorial
registered bundles may be made up by offices and sections for provinces, clearly-defined tracts of
country, and for foreign countries, and the sorting list should show in what cases such bundles
should be prepared.
(6) As a general rule, the use of parcel bags will be ordered only in a cases where an office
or section ordinarily despatches many parcels, or where a separate establishment of parcel runners
is entertained; and the use of a parcel bag must never be prescribed with a dispatch when a mail list
does not accompany it. When the average number of parcel mail articles for dispatch daily from
one office or section to another exceeds 5 registered parcels a direct parcel bag should be ordered.
EXCEPTION – The Bombay and Calcutta G.P.Os. and the following R.M.S. offices will close
direct parcel bags only for those offices and sections for which there are more than 10 registered
parcels :-
Howrah and R.M.S. Offices in Madras town.
(7) Every office or section, which make up a mail bag for another office or section will
ordinarily receive from the latter a mail bag in return. Also, whenever practicable, the number of
due mails exchanged between two offices or sections will be the same; and when this cannot be
arranged, the due mail list or, in the R.M.S. the due bag list, will show in what mail bags the
surplus empty bags should be returned.
(8) Bags for a section in direct mail communication with a post office, which passes that
office late in the night, can often with advantage be forwarded through the intermediary of another
section passing at a more suitable hours, provided that the latter is also in direct mail
communication with the same office. In such cases, the post office may be required to put up the
contents of the bags for that section in labelled and registered bundles for dispatch through the
section which passes the office first.
(9) Sorting lists and orders intended for branch offices, the postmasters of which do not
know English, will be translated into the proper vernacular. When a mail list is prescribed for use
by such a branch office, the branch postmaster will also be supplied with a specimen form of mail
list having the printed entries of the standard English form translated in vernacular.
(10) Supply of an extract sorting list is required to be done before a bag is introduced. For
this purpose the head of the Circle in whose jurisdiction the receiving office is located should
furnish the extract sorting list of the bag to the head of Circle in whose jurisdiction the office
which is to close the bag is located. The extract sorting list should be publicized in the CSO/Stg.
Memo. of the Circles concerned.
Supervisory offices of the Circle in which the receiving office is located should check the
contents of the bag to see that the dispatching office or section follows the extract sorting list
meticulously.
NOTE 1- Sorting list questions are matters for fair discussion between Heads of Circles
concerned. Reference may be made to the Director-General where, for any special reason,
agreement cannot be arrived at.