New year, old uniform for the Punjab police

By July, the Punjab police will be sporting a new look, or an old one, as their previous uniform is restored by the top cop of the province.

The police men and women will be trading in their olive green uniforms to revert back to the dark blue shirt and khaki pants.

In December, Amjad Javed Saleemi, the Inspector General (IG) Punjab police, told Geo News that the police force was facing difficulties working near the provincial borders. He added that different uniforms for the police force of the country is creating problems.

This is not the first time the police force will undergo a makeover. The olive green separates were handed over to the Punjab police in 2017, by the then-IG Punjab. Before that the cops wore a dark blue button-down with khaki pants, which was introduced in 1958.

A former senior official of the Punjab government said that the decision to adopt the green uniform was made after “a year-long research by textile professionals.”

“The army’s uniform was kept in mind when designing them, to ensure that the cloth was cheap and can be produced in bulk,” he added, asking not to be named. A single pair cost Rs2,500.

The colour was chosen due to the hot, humid weather of Punjab.

Once a model was made, all senior police and state officials were consulted before production began. During the voting, some officers opposed the decision, including the current IG Punjab.

But this change, back to the old uniform, will come at a cost. “Over Rs1.5 billion were spent on producing the olive green uniforms,” says another police officer, now retired, “which will go to waste.”

However, Punjab’s cops had routinely complained to the new IG that their green uniforms were of low-quality and thus looked faded and worn out after only a few washes. Furthermore, they had trouble having them replaced as the colour was hard to find in the market.