IGP keen on police sentiment over their new uniforms

An official says first the force will wear uniform for one year then their opinions will be considered

LAHORE: The new olive green uniform of the police is yet to be distributed throughout the province, while the Punjab Inspector General of the Police (IGP) has formed an eightmember committee to get the views of the majority of the force about the change.

According to a notification issued on September 29, 2017, the committee will garner the feedback of all regions and districts. Rank-wise views of the force will be used to form and submit a comprehensive report about the colour, shade, weight, pattern, comfort and outlook of the olive green uniform.



Besides, concrete recommendations will also be considered to make changes to the present olive green uniform or to revert to the previous attire. Another alternative would be to consider adopting another pattern, colour or type of cloth.

The order stated that the Punjab police had adopted a new uniform of olive green colour. Presently, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Faisalabad and Sheikhupura regions have started wearing the new attire. As per an approved schedule, all regions and units of Punjab shall switch to the new uniform by December, 2017 in a phased manner.

It further stated that since the police force was large in size, various opinions have emerged about the various facets of the new uniform. In order to accommodate the majority of views regarding the change, the committee comprises additional IG Finance and Welfare Muhammad Tahir, DIG RPO Sheikhupura Zulfiqar Hameed, DIG Discipline and Inquiry Punjab Shahzada Sultan, AIG logistics Rai Babar Saeed, CPO Faisalabad Athar Ismail, DPO Rahim Yar Khan Zeeshan Asghar, SP Pothohar Division Rawalpindi Syed Ali and SP Investigation Rajan Pur Saifullah Khan.

Lahore police's new look gives citizens a jolt 

The detailed SOPs to conduct such a study/exercise/survey shall be finalised by the committee, as deemed appropriate, the order added. In April 2017, Lahore police and officials/officers of the Central Police Office were the first to wear the new uniform for the first time.

Officials and officers of different ranks expressed their reservations over the uniform, most of them were quoted as saying that the material made it hot and caused rashes in the summer. The officials also faced problems in determining identity or ranks as these were not clearly marked on the shirt. However, the uniform was also appreciated for being more comfortable than the previous one.

Field officials/officers had also preferred the new get up, saying the black shirt of previous uniforms caused much heat in the upper regions of the body on duty.

Additional IG Finance and Welfare Muhammad Tahir told The Express Tribune that at first, the force would wear the uniform for one year and their opinions would subsequently be taken into consideration. He added the uniform would be distributed soon throughout the province and the committee will start their work in the next two or three months.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 3^rd, 2017.