Shimla: Himachal Pradesh government has
defended its decision to change the police uniform from Khaki
to Blue and said the criticism of the new uniform in a section
of the press was "misplaced".
It was the right of the state government to change the
uniform, an official spokesman said adding the decision to
change the uniform was taken after taking care of all aspects
and consultations with all the concerned sections.
He said the idea to change the uniform was mooted in 2003
to remove the inherited ‘Khaki’ uniform image of a "repressive
and brutal force" and the necessity to create people-friendly
and perfect policing image of state police.
The state government had constituted a committee of
senior police officers to explore the possibilities of
replacing ‘Khaki’ uniform with a better one by observing the
provisions of the Himachal Pradesh Police Act, 2007, he added.
Sufficient time period was provided to re-consider the
proposal before the state government and finally the
notification to change uniform was issued, he added.
PTI
