See,i read the post as mentioned by you.It tells that OS can be there for the place not even served by railways.Itz ok.
Now who is the beneficiary?That means people belonging to that area.
It doesnot specify whether the person applying for the same needs it for urgent purpose or just first come first serve policy.
From some experience i am seeing that the GNWL ticket gets promoted to OS quota and tickets are confirmed under the same.
So it means that OS can't be booked rather it can be allotted as similar to some special quota.(like DF is for defence people)
I may be...
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wrong in my understanding .But it is what i perceived after seeing some PNR's

Thanks. Now you have read all that I have read on OS and so we are on a level playing field. I will now try and answer all of your questions raised in the last few postings. I will be answering this post based on my experience. However, I feel that Dr Basu and RDB (and a few others) are in a better position to answer your questions as they have the necessary knowledge and powers of articulation to do a better job than me. Also, Sorry this post is rather long.
As Mr Gopalkrishnan said that the OS quota can be for remote stations and OS can be there for the place that are not even served by PRS. My example relates to Cancona (CNO) an intermediate station on KR. CNO does not have PRS. The station has some...
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4 berths quota on Mathsyagandha Superfast in 3AC and a few more in Sleeper which is NOT connected to PRS and is a standalone quota. The station has their own computer from where a ticket is printed. This ticket does not look like a PRS ticket. I had a booked a ticket on Matsyagandha 3AC through the stations window, for my daughter a couple of years back from CNO to LTT. When I went to the station to see her off, I noticed the local railway staff handing over a small sheet of paper to the TTE with the passenger details of those booked by the local quota (OS). I was told the TTE would write the passenger details on his printout by hand. This CNO situation is, I feel strongly an example of OS quota.
The 2011 circular says that the method of charting is different now. The shutter for the OS ticketing/reservation closes at 1800 hrs one day before and CNO would now send the details of the passengers booked and the vacant berths to the Originating station, in this case Mangalore for incorporating in the PRS system. It also says that the vacant berths will be made GN at the time of charting. This would help a couple of WL passengers. I am not in CNO right now, or I could have given you the confirmed details from the Station Master.
Here are the questions and my answers based on my example, my reading of Mr Gopalkrishnan’s post, Dr Basu’s post and the circular(s).
1. Q: **OS is meant for remote stations and is like RS/RL quota ** or ** it is like EQ/HO quota for which special requisition application has to be submitted.**
A: As you can see the OS is an off-PRS quota and cannot be compared to RS/RL/EQ/HO.
2. Q:Is it automatically allotted like GN or is done as HO?
A: As described above, ticketing is done at the off-PRS counter before 1800 hrs the previous day and then gets communicated to the originating station. Vacant berths are allotted to GNWL passengers
3. Q: Is it for middle stations or for end to end journey?
A: It is for a reservation station which is not linked to the PRS. The reservation is available to any station on route or to the terminating station on that train
4. Q: but it doesnot tell under what circumstances and for whom the OS quota has to be provided?
A: The circumstances are simple. CNO has a Superfast stoppage but no PRS. Helps the local passengers to get a confirmed booking without going 40KM away to the MAO PRS or KAWR PRS.
5. Q: Now who is the beneficiary? That means people belonging to that area. It does not specify whether the person applying for the same needs it for urgent purpose or just first come first serve policy.
A: Yes, people belonging to that area and on a first come first serve policy. The availability of berths can be found ONLY by inquiring at the counter and not through websites.
6. Q: From some experience i am seeing that the GNWL ticket gets promoted to OS quota and tickets are confirmed under the same.
A: Yes, as mentioned above, after 1800 hrs the day before, the ‘’mini chart’’ of the OS station is communicated (How, I don’t know) to the train originating station. Which incorporates the same at charting with the vacant berths adding to the available pool for the GNWL passengers
Q: So it means that OS can't be booked rather it can be allotted as similar to some special quota.(like DF is for defence people)
A: Yes, Looks like that
Hope this is useful to you.

Let us go by my example. If CNO surrenders the vacant quota to the originating station a day before, then at the time of charting it could be given to an end-end passenger on the WL. So you are right, his name should figure against an OS berth. But needs to be confirmed sometime.
Sometimes, Railway people could get the OS quota surrendered earlier, so that it can be given to a high WL of their choice. I doubt it happens, but a possibility nevertheless. But frankly, I have very little interest in finding this out
The other way of making the best use of this system is: You are at MAQ and want to travel to LTT. The waiting list is huge. You can ask me staying at CNO to...
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book an OS ticket from CNO-LTT while you book a PRS ticket from Maq-CNO. Although a bit more expensive, this example could be a viable option in case you have a friend at an OS station.
Regarding ''Only thing is that the left out OS of train is sent to nearest rail head or train originating station.'' My understanding of the circular is train originating station or nearest charting station.
I was thinking about the reason behind the circulars of 2011. In the previous situation the small chart would be handed over to the TTE and if there was a vacant berth, the TTE could have made a killing with the on-train WL passengers. In the new system, it goes back to the PRS. The flip side, is CNO could use the vacant OS berths even 30 minutes before the train departure, whereas now that have to get the OS reservation before 1800 hrs the previous day.
The other point is having OS quota does not prevent me from booking an eticket on the PRS for a journey starting from CNO