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Wednesday, Aug 20, 2008
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Eight-digit PAL to replace PIN

K.P.M. Basheer

Geographical location-specific system for better sorting, delivery of mail

PAL may be launched in three months
It has 2 variants: one for districts and other for metros

KOCHI: India Post is gearing up to replace the Postal Index Number (PIN), which has been in use since 1972, with a new code, Postal Address Locator (PAL).

The eight-digit PAL might go on stream in three months, a senior official indicated. The system was being fine-tuned and would need Cabinet approval before being put to use. It would fundamentally alter the coding of geographical locations.

Unlike the PIN system, in which each post office has a unique number, the PAL is geographical location-specific. The district is the basic unit as it is the best-known administrative geographic entity in India. The PAL assigns a unique four-digit number (first part of the eight-digit code) to each of the 600 administrative districts. However, the PAL has two variants: one for districts and the other for metros.

The eight digits are arranged in a logical sequence. The first digit in the first part of the code stands for the country zone (north India, central India etc.); the second digit stands for the State in that zone;and, the third and fourth for the district.

In the second part, the first digit stands for one of the five important cities in that particular district (the numbers 1,2,3,4, and 5). This digit (if it is one of the numbers 6,7,8 or 9) can also denote that the address is in a rural area. The last three digits are the village code.

For instance, the PAL code for Sohna in Gurgaon district of Haryana could be 1209-6234. In this, 12 stands for Haryana (1st national zone, 2nd State); 09 for Gurgaon (ninth district in Haryana); 6 denotes that the place is a rural one and 234 is the village code.

India Post gives the following example to show how the PAL works for the localities in metro cities, as different from the districts. The PAL code for Bharti Nagar in Delhi could be: 1101-1344. In the first four-digit part, 11 is the Delhi State code (1st national zone, 1st State) and 01 is Delhi City code (first metro city in the State). In the second part of the code, 1 indicates that the address is in the first zone of the metro and 344 is the locality code of Bharti Nagar.

Another example: the PAL code of Ganesh Peth in Nagpur in Maharashtra is 2203-2044. In this, 22 stands for Maharashtra; 03 for Nagpur, which is the third major city in Maharashtra (after Mumbai and Pune, the first and second cities in the State); 2 stands for the second city zone in Nagpur and 044 is the locality code.

The nation has been divided into eight zones: north India (1), west India (2), east India (3), south India (4), central India (6), northeast India (7); the numbers 5 and 9 have been allotted to the defence services. Each of the 28 States and seven Union Territories will have a two-digit number indicating its respective zone.

For instance, Punjab’s code 15 indicates that it is State No. 5 in Zone No. 1 (North Zone); Goa’s code is 23 which shows that it is State No. 3 in zone No. 2 (West Zone). In South Zone (4), Andhra Pradesh is 41, Karnataka 42, Kerala 43, Tamil Nadu 44, Puducherry 45 and Lakshadweep 46.

The PAL is expected to vastly improve sorting and delivery of mail and enable India Post, which has a network of over 1.5 lakh post offices, to deliver local mail the same day of posting. There are over a dozen metros and six lakh villages in the country.

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