The
location of armed forces personnel serving in forward areas is invariably
classified. While mobile and internet may be the preferred means of
communication for most today, this facility is not necessary available to the
soldiers serving in borders of our nation. So how do family members and friends
of soldiers communicate with them?
They
simply write on an envelope or on an inland letter the soldier's name, his unit
details and mail it "Care of" (C/O) 56 or 99 APO, depending on
whether he is serving in the western or eastern sector. Whether standing vigil
in a forlorn forward post or elsewhere where even eagles do not soar, Army
Postal Service (APS) through their Army Post Office (APO) and subsidiary
network of multitudes of Field Post Offices (FPO) ensures its timely delivery.
56
and 99 APO, incidentally are the two Central Base Post
Office (CBPO) mail sorting hubs operating out of New Delhi (No. 1 CBPO) and
Kolkata (No. 2 CBPO), respectively. Between them the entire postal needs of the
armed forces and few other ancillary paramilitary organisations get taken care
of within India.
The
origins of these two famous forwarding mail hubs of APS has
an interesting history. Subsequent to the victory over Japan by allied forces
in August 1945, the 'Indian Army Postal Service' as it was then known, began
the process of disbanding all its existing 137 FPOs.
56
FPO, which was raised in Secunderabad on June 30,
1941, was the last FPO left awaiting disbandment. Having just returned from Iwakuni, the British Commonwealth Occupation Force Air Base
in Japan, it was however, left unscathed.
Redesignated on
October 24, 1947, with a new coded security address "C/O 56 APO", it
began as the new base sorting office in New Delhi to serve the postal needs of
troops at Punjab and J&K, as a consequence of the Pakistani raiders invasion on October 20, 1947.
Today,
there are more than 350 FPOs under 1 CBPO that take care of mails addressed
"C/O 56 APO", encompassing operations across the entire spectrum of
our country except the eastern sector.
Meanwhile,
"C/O 99 APO" came into being as the coded security address for all in
the eastern sector including all the eight north-eastern states, West Bengal
and the Andaman group of islands with the raising of 2 CBPO on April 1, 1964.
It addresses all its postal operations through its network of nearly 130 FPOs.
The
APS Corps celebrated its 41st 'Corps Day' on March 1, 2013. However, its
origins go back as early as 1856 when APS was first conceived as a wartime
organisation integral to the expeditionary forces that headed to Bushire in the Persian Gulf, and several other such
missions elsewhere, later.
Till
1947, APS was a part of the 'Indian General Service', which was then disbanded.
It was then affiliated to the 'Army Service Corps' as its postal branch until
establishing itself as an independent Corps from March 1, 1972 onwards with a
defined role. It includes, ensuring security by use of security address and by
assisting censorship, implementing postal concessions and providing postal
facilities to troops in operational areas.
It
also adopted the 'flying swan', the mythical carrier of messages in several
Indian epics, including the Mahabharata, as its emblem with the motto "Mel
Milap" (in Hindi) meaning 'union through mail'.
Swan is a graceful bird known for its strength, courage, speed and ability to
reach inaccessible places, an appropriate symbol of what APS stands for.
For
the benefit of the troops, APS provides all the services that 'India Post' -
National Postal Network - offers to its client base. These include, besides routine
postal service, services such as Speed Post, Express Parcel Post, Postal Life
Insurance, E-Post, Post Office Savings Bank, Public Provident Fund among
others. It is set to introduce several 'core banking solutions' and
'value-added services' relieving soldiers of their anxiety while serving in
forward areas.
Contrary
to perceptions that cellular connectivity and internet must be denting the mail
volume in present times, statistics indicate that it has, in fact,
steadily risen. Brigadier (APS) at Eastern Command, B
Chandrasekhar, ascribes this phenomena to the rise in
the volume of official and business mail offsetting imbalances, if any.
Amplifying
further, Col Akhilesh Pandey,
Commandant No. 2 CBPO says, "The mails from various
service providers such as financial institutions including banks, insurance and
investment companies, towards their business transactions is on the
rise. The services also extensively use the 'Scheduled Despatch Services' (SDS)
for despatch of all their secure official mail."
But
the organization that is manned by volunteer officers drawn from the Indian
Postal Service on deputation, together with three-fourth of its personnel drawn
from the Postal Department, does not easily sit on its laurels. They are
constantly evolving newer 'value-added services' to retain their trusted
clientele base, the Indian soldier, who knows that his 'flying swan' comrades
will always keep him connected with his family and friends, irrespective of his
remote or classified location.
Perhaps one of the
best depiction of the emotions of soldiers when they receive their mail from
their near and dear ones was enacted in the JP Dutta
film "Border" with the iconic chartbuster song "Sandeshe aate hain,
hamei tadpaate hain, to chithi aati hai.."
That really is what the caring flying swans do, bring smiles and draw emotions.
Courtesy : PIB Features
*****
*By Tarun Kumar Singha, Group Captain CPRO,
Ministry of Defence, Kolkata
