Army Postal Service (India)

Indian Military mail system

Army Postal Service CorpsSenā ḍāk sevā

Agency overview
Formed| 1856; 169 years ago (1856) [1]
Type| Military
Postal Service
Headquarters| Sena Dak Bhawan
Motto| Hindi : Mel-milāp
English : Reconciliation (Restoration of friendly relations)
Minister responsible|

* Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister

Agency executive|

* Major General MK Khan, VSM, Additional Director General Army Postal Service [2]

Parent department| Dept. of Post, Government of India
Parent agency| Indian Armed Forces
Website| APS Indian Army

Postal stamps issued in 2006 on 150 Years of the Field Post Office

The Army Postal Service (APS) functions as a government-operated military mail system in India. A primary role of Army Postal Service systems is to ensure security form of address in respect of Formations/Units/Troops deployed in Armed Forces and to ensure military mail posted between duty stations at India & Abroad are delivered by adopting security form of address (or vice versa). In some cases, Indian military personnel in a combat zone may post letters to the home country/ home town for free. Officers and men are deputed primarily from the Department of Posts on Field Service. Army Postal Service is the only service that enables civil service officers to work in the Armed forces as combatants.

## Activities

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Army Postal Service provides Postal facilities, Schedule Despatch Services, Remittance services, Debit Army Post Logistics, Sainik Samachar Patra Seva, Permanent Aadhaar Enrolment Centre facility to Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Air Force and Paramilitary forces personnel through 358 Field Post Offices established across the country. It also provides postal cover to Indian troops deployed with United Nations Peace Keeping Forces abroad.

## Organizational set-up

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The head of Army Postal Service is the Additional Director General, Army Postal Service at Integrated Headquarters of Ministry of Defence (Army) in the rank of Major General He is assisted by Brigadier Army Postal Service at Integrated Headquarters of Ministry of Defence (Army) .

The two Central Base Post Offices at Delhi and Kolkata and Army Postal Service Wing at Kamptee, Nagpur are commanded by Commandants in the rank of Colonel. The Postal Officers at Command HQs in the rank of Brigadier / Colonel and Corps HQ in the rank of Lt Col/ Major/Captain monitor the functioning of Field Post Offices (FPOs) under their control and discharge the functions of the Postal Advisor to the General-Officers-Commanding. Two Central Base Post Offices and Mail Halls serve as the nodal points for mail processing. The Central Base Post Offices are 56 and 99 APO operating out of New Delhi (1 CBPO) and Kolkata (2 CBPO), respectively. 99 APO covers all formations in the eight north-eastern states, West Bengal and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands through its network of nearly 96 FPOs. 56 APO covers the rest of the country through its network of 262 FPOs.

## Badge

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The current badge of the Army Postal Service was approved on 07 Mar 2023. The badge consists of the State Emblem (Ashoka Lions) at the top with words ‘Mail- Milap’, a flying ascending Rajhans encased by a wheat stalk wreath in a semi- oval shape with upward crossed lighting flashes. The wheat stalk signifies growth and prosperity. The ‘Rajhans’ is a mythical bird messenger, representing the function of mail handling by the Corps. The words ‘Mail-Milap’ means ‘union through mail’.

## Head of Army Postal Service

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List of Heads of APS [3] Name | From | To

|
|

Brigadier DS Virk, AVSM | 1 March 1972 | 10 March 1972
Brigadier OP Raghava, AVSM | 13 March 1972 | 30 December 1978
Major General SK Anand, AVSM | 1 January 1979 | 31 May 1989
Major General SP Chopra, VSM | 1 June 1989 | 31 March 1993
Major General BP Das, AVSM | 25 May 1993 | 1 November 1996
Major General KK Srivastava, VSM | 14 December 1996 | 29 March 2001
Major General RS Kareer | 30 March 2001 | 30 September 2002
Major General SK Sen, VSM | 1 October 2002 | 31 May 2004
Major General V Sadasivam, VSM | 1 June 2004 | 24 February 2010
Major General ARA Sah | 18 June 2010 | 15 September 2011
Major General AK Shori | 10 October 2011 | 31 March 2015
Major General Meena Datta  | 21 October 2015 | 21 December 2018
Major General PS Negi | 22 December 2018 | 22 December 2019
Major General DV Mahesh, VSM | 24 December 2019 | 19 January 2022
Major General MK Khan, VSM | 17 February 2022 | 31 January 2025
Brig Shipra Sharma | 01 Feb 2025 | present

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "HISTORY APS". Indian Army. Government of India. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
2. ^ "Organisation". Indian Army. Govt. of India. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
3. ^ "Heads of Service APS". Archived from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021.

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Arms and services of Indian Army

Combat
arms|

| Infantry regiments|

* Mechanised Infantry
* Guards
* Parachute
* Punjab
* Madras
* Grenadiers
* Maratha LI
* Naga
* Rajputana Rifles
* Rajput
* Jat
* Sikh
* Sikh LI
* Dogra
* Garhwal Rifles
* Kumaon
* Assam
* Bihar
* Mahar
* J&K Rifles
* J&K LI
* 1 GR
* 3 GR
* 4 GR
* 5 GR
* 8 GR
* 9 GR
* 11 GR
* Ladakh Scouts
* Arunachal Scouts
* Sikkim Scouts

|

Other combat arms|

* Artillery
* Armoured
* Army Aviation
* Army Air Defence
* Engineers
* Madras
* Bengal
* Bombay
* Signals
* Intelligence

Support
services|

| Corps|

* Education
* Military Music Wing
* Medical
* Ordnance
* Postal Service
* Army Service Corps
* Electronics and Mechanical Engineers
* Military Police
* Remount and Veterinary
* Pioneer
* Defence Security Corps

|

Administrative corps|

* Judge Advocate General's Department
* Military Engineer Services
* Military Farms Service
* Military Nursing Service
* Territorial Army
* National Cadet Corps

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Ministry of Communications (India)

Department of Telecommunications|

| Statutory Bodies|

* Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT)
* Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)

|

Attached Offices|

* Controller General of Communication Accounts (CGCA)
* Director General Telecom (DGT)
* Telecommunication Engineering Center (TEC)
* Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF)

Subordinate Offices|

* National Centre for Communication Security (NCCS)
* Wireless Monitoring Organisation (WMO)

Field Offices|

* Controller of Communication Accounts (CCA)

Autonomous Bodies|

* Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT)

Training Institutes|

* National Telecommunications Institute for Policy Research Innovation Training (NTIPRIT)
* National Institute of Communication Finance (NICF)

Others|

* Centre for Excellence in Telecom Technology and Management
* Digital Communications Commission
* Telecom Enforcement Resource and Monitoring (TERM)
* Telephone Advisory Committees (TAC)
* Wireless Planning & Coordination Wing (WPC)

PSUs|

* Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL)
* Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL)
* Indian Telephone Industries Limited (ITI)
* Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL)
* Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL)

Civil Service|

* Indian Telecommunication Service
* Indian Radio Regulatory Service

Department of Posts|

* Army Postal Service
* India Post
* India Post Payments Bank

Legislations|

* The Indian Telegraph Act, 1885
* The Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1940
* The Indian Post Office Act, 1898
* The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997

Ministers|

* Rafi Ahmed Kidwai
* Amrit Kaur
* Jagjivan Ram
* Raj Bahadur
* Lal Bahadur Shastri
* S. K. Patil
* Jawaharlal Nehru
* P. Subbarayan
* Ashoke Kumar Sen
* Satya Narayan Sinha
* Ram Subhag Singh
* Indira Gandhi
* Sher Singh
* Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna
* Kasu Brahmananda Reddy
* Shankar Dayal Sharma
* Morarji Desai
* Parkash Singh Badal
* George Fernandes
* Brij Lal Varma
* Charan Singh
* Shyam Nandan Mishra
* Bhishma Narain Singh
* C. M. Stephen
* Anant Prasad Sharma
* Rajiv Gandhi
* V. N. Gadgil
* Arjun Singh
* Vasant Sathe
* Bir Bahadur Singh
* V. P. Singh
* K. P. Unnikrishnan
* Chandra Shekhar
* Atal Bihari Vajpayee
* Beni Prasad Verma
* Buta Singh
* Sushma Swaraj
* Jagmohan
* Ram Vilas Paswan
* Pramod Mahajan
* Arun Shourie
* Dayanidhi Maran
* A. Raja
* Manmohan Singh
* Kapil Sibal
* Ravi Shankar Prasad
* Ashwini Vaishnaw (incumbent)

Ministers of State|

* Manoj Sinha
* Sanjay Shamrao Dhotre
* Devusinh Jesingbhai Chauhan (incumbent)

Preceding Ministry: Ministry of Communications and Information Technology
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