Decoding the Pincode - Logic behind the Pincode and its significance

Decoding the Pin Code

The concept of letter, posts are declining as the day progresses. Those are the golden days where we write a letter to our grandma staying the other place and eagerly waiting for their reply. The post cards and the way we write a big letter within the space provided by the postal authority is still a big task than posting a tweet in the twitter. The creativity which we showcase in our 25paise post card can never be replaced with the ones which we share in FB / WhatsApp / any other medium. 

Hand painted customized greetings for Diwali, Pongal etc in the normal post card brings a lot more joy. We have to bring back those moments by reviving the post card tradition atleast during the festivals & occasions .

Ok, coming to the subject matter of this post.  While sending a letter,  it is customary to write the PIN CODES in the address field. All that we have learnt is the PIN is the acronym of POSTAL INDEX NUMBER. But quoting the PIN CODE has a lot more significance that what we think of.

The PIN CODE consists of 6 digits and there is logic behind these 6 digits. For all my examples below, I will be using the PIN CODE 600 017 (T.Nagar) since it is easier for us to remember.

The six digits of the pin code can be divided into 4 categories:

1

     1. FIRST DIGIT : Region

All the states have been categorized into 8 regions and a separate region for Army Postal Service. Given below the list of regions:

First Digit	Region	States Covered
1	Northern	Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir
2	Northern	Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand
3	Western	Rajasthan, Gujarat, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli
4	Western	Goa, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh
5	Southern	Andhra Pradesh, Telungana and Karnataka
6	Southern	Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Lakshadweep
7	Eastern	Odisha, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Assam, Sikkim
8	Eastern	Bihar and Jharkand
9	APS	Army Postal Service

In our Example (600017), First digit 6 represent Southern Region.

     2. SECOND DIGIT(First Two Digits) : State / Circle

The first two digits together used to represent the State / Postal Circle.  We have 28 such categories which is given below:

First 2 / 3 Digits of PIN	Postal Circle
11	Delhi
12 and 13	Haryana
14 to 15	Punjab
16	Chandigarh
17	Himachal Pradesh
18 to 19	Jammu and Kashmir
20 to 28	Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand
30 to 34	Rajasthan
36 to 39	Gujarat
40	Goa
40 to 44	Maharastra
45 to 48	Madhya Pradesh
49	Chhattisgarh
50 to 53	Andhra Pradesh and Telangana
56 to 59	Karnataka
60 to 64	Tamil Nadu
67 to 69	Kerala
682	Lakshadweep (Islands)
70 to 74	West Bengal
744	Andaman and Nicobar Islands
75 to 77	Odisha
78	Assam
79	Arunachal Pradesh
793, 794, 783123	Meghalaya
795	Manipur
796	Mizoram
799	Tripura
80 to 85	Bihar and Jharkhand

In our Example (600017), first two digits 60 represent Tamilnadu.

     3. THIRD DIGIT (First Three Digits) : District

The first three digits together used to represent the Sorting district.  Each and every state has different categorization. For Tamil Nadu, we have 30 such divisions.

Index No. (First Three Digits of PIN Code)	District Covered
600	Chennai
601,602	Tiruvallur
603,631	Kanchipuram
605,606	Villupuram  (including Pondicherry)
606	Tiruvannamalai
607,608	Cuddalore
609,610	Tiruvarur (including Karaikal)
611	Nagapattinam
612,613,614	Thanjavur
620,621	Tiruchirapalli
621	Perambalur
621	Ariyalur
622	Pudukkottai
623	Ramanathapuram
624	Dindigul
625	Madurai
625	Theni
626	Virudhunagar
627	Tirunelveli
628	Tuticorin
629	Nagercoil
630	Sivaganga
632	Vellore
635,636	Dharmapuri
636	Salem
637	Namakkal
638	Erode
639	Karur
641,642	Coimbatore
643	Nilgiris

In our Example (600017), first three digits 600 represent Chennai.

     4. LAST THREE DIGITS (4,5,&6): The Specific Post Office / Location in the District

The last 3 digits represents the specific location / post office in the particular district. Given below is the complete list of codes for post offices in Chennai.

Last 3 Digits	Post Office / Location	Pincode
001	Chennai G P O	600001
002	Anna Salai H O	600002
003	Park Town	600003
004	Mylapore	600004
005	Triplicane	600005
006	Greams Road	600006
007	Vepery	600007
008	Egmore	600008
009	Fort St. George	600009
010	Kilpauk	600010
011	Perambur	600011
012	Perambur Barracks	600012
013	Royapuram	600013
014	Royapettah	600014
015	Saidapet	600015
016	St. Thomas Mount H O	600016
017	T Nagar H O	600017
018	Teynampet	600018
019	Tiruvottiyur	600019
020	Adyar	600020
021	Washermanpet	600021
022	Raj Bhavan	600022
023	Ayanavaram	600023
024	Kodambakkam	600024
025	Engineering College	600025
026	Vadapalani	600026
027	Meenambakkam	600027
028	R A Puram	600028
029	Aminjikarai	600029
030	Sheynoynagar	600030
031	Chetpet H O	600031
032	Guindy	600032
033	West Mambalam	600033
034	Nungambakkam	600034
035	Nandanam	600035
036	I I T	600036
037	Officers Training Academy	600037
038	I C F Colony	600038
039	Vyasarpadi	600039
040	Anna Nagar	600040
041	Thiruvanmiyur	600041
042	Velachery	600042
043	Pallavaram	600043
044	Chromepet	600044
045	Tambaram H O	600045
046	Tambarm I A F	600046
047	Tambaram Sanatorium	600047
048	Vandalur	600048
049	Villivakkam	600049
050	Padi	600050
051	Madhavaram Milk Colony	600051
052	Red Hills	600052
053	Ambattur H O	600053
054	Avadi Camp H O	600054
055	Avadi I A F	600055
056	Poonamallee	600056
057	Ennore Thermal Station	600057
058	Ambattur Industrial Estate	600058
059	Tambaram East	600059
060	Madhavaram	600060
061	Nanganallur	600061
062	Sathyamurthi Nagar	600062
063	Srinivasa Nagar	600063
064	Chitlapakkam	600064
065	C R P Camp Avadi	600065
066	Puzhal	600066
067	Sholavaram	600067
068	Manali	600068
069	Kundrathur	600069
070	Anakaputhur	600070
071	Kamaraj Nagar	600071
072	Pattabiram	600072
073	Selaiyur	600073
074	Polichalur	600074
075	Pammal	600075
076	Korattur R S	600076
077	Thiruverkadu	600077
078	K K Nagar	600078
079	Sowcarpet	600079
080	Korattur	600080
081	Tondiarpet	600081
082	Jawahar Nagar	600082
083	Ashok Nagar	600083
084	Flowers Road	600084
085	Kotturpuram	600085
086	Gopalapuram	600086
087	Alwarthirunagar	600087
088	Adambakkam	600088
089	Nandambakkam	600089
090	Besant Nagar	600090
091	Madipakkam	600091
092	Virugambakkam	600092
093	Saligramam	600093
094	Choolaimedu	600094
095	Jaffarkhanpet	600095
096	Perungudi	600096
097	Ekattuthangal	600097
098	SIDCO Estate	600098
099	Kolathur	600099
100	Thirusoolam Village	600100
101	Anna Nagar West Extn	600101
102	Anna Nagar East	600102
103	Manali New Town	600103
104	High Court	600104
105	Ethiraj Salai	600105
106	Arumbakkam	600106
107	Koyambedu	600107
108	Broadway	600108
109	Railway Car Shed Complex, Avadi	600109
110	Ponniamman Medu	600110
111	Ayyappanagar	600111
112	Choolai	600112
113	Taramani	600113
114	Pazhavanthangal	600114
115	Injambakkam	600115
116	Porur	600116
117	Old Pallavaram	600117
118	Kodungaiyur	600118
119	Sholinganallur	600119
120	North Chennai Thermal PP	600120
122	Mangadu	600122
123	Nazarethpettai	600123
124	Thirumazhisai	600124

In our Example (600017), last three digits 017 represent T.Nagar.

Conclusion:

Until we know the importance of something, we will not take those things seriously. Same thing applies to the pin code as well. I didn’t know about the importance and significance of these pincodes and happened to see a poster explaining the importance of pincode,  in velachery post office while sending a speed post there. Mentioning the correct pin code makes the sorting officials task more easier and would lead to a speedy delivery of the posts. Same is applicable in case of Couriers as well.

Thanks for your patience in reading my post, hope it is helpful in some way or other. Do drop in your suggestions and feedback to innovativedeepak87@gmail.com . Meet you all in the next post very soon.

    - Deepak Raghuraman (www.facebook.com/nammaareablog)

Credits:
www.tamilnadupost.nic.in, wikipedia, www.indiapost.gov.in, www.mapsofindia.com