Postal Identification Number
Source-The Indian Express
Context
India celebrating 75 years of independence also achieved another milestone, the PIN code, an inalienable part of postal address, turned 50.
PIN-code was introduced on Aug 15, 1972, to ease mail sorting. PIN code narrows down delivery to the specific post office.
Requisite
- According to the Department of posts, there were 23,344 post offices, primarily in urban areas, at the time of independence in India.
- As the country’s population was growing rapidly, the postal network had to keep pace.
- The PIN code was meant to ease the process of mail sorting & delivery in a country where different places often have similar names and letters written in a wide variety of languages.
Mechanism
- The PIN code was made up of six digits.
- The first number indicates the postal region-Northern, Southern, Eastern, Western. Number 9 signifies the Army Postal Service.
- The second number denotes a sub-region and the third is the sorting district.
- The remaining numbers narrow down the location to the specific post office delivering the mail.
|
PIN structure Example- 5 1 7 247 5—>Zone 1—>Sub-zone 7—>Sorting district 247—>Post office |
Initiative
- The person behind the initiative was Shriram Bhikaji Velankar, an additional secretary in the Union Ministry of Communications and a senior member of the Posts & Telegraph Board.
- Velankar was a Sanskrit poet of eminence who was conferred the President’s Award for Sanskrit in 1996, three years before his death.
- Among Velankar’s 105 books & plays in Sanskrit, the Viloma Kavya is considered the masterpiece, which comprises verses in praise of Lord Rama when read from one side and verses dedicated to Lord Krishna when read backwards.
- Velankar set up the Dev Vani Mandiram, which worked to create awareness about Sanskrit.
- He was also the chairman of the World Philatelic Exhibition, called Index, which was held in Delhi in 1973, and featured 120 countries.
Global Parallels
- The Zone Improvement Plan (ZIP) code was introduced in the US on July 1, 1963.
- Under the old system letters went through about 17 sorting stops, the new system was going to be considerably less time-consuming.
- In the UK, the sorting of mail was mechanized in the mid-1960s.
- The key to mechanization is an alphanumeric postal code that provides for sorting by machine at every stage of handling, including the carrier’s delivery route.
- Japan created its postal code address system in July 1968.
