Just Rs100 for cops to suit up

At a time when tailoring costs have skyrocketed and people prefer wearing branded clothes, a Delhi Police constable has to be content with a paltry sum of `100, given as an annual uniform allowance by the government. But the small amount is no excuse for them and they can be punished for wearing a shabby uniform.

The actual cost of getting a uniform stitched in the market is between `800 and `1,000, which they have to shell out from their own pockets. The Delhi Police personnel — from constables to inspectors — are provided the cloth by their units and are expected to get the uniform stitched for `100.

This has been the practice since 1992, when the provision of stitched uniforms was done away with. “A policeman gets three metres of cloth after every 14 months from his unit, but he has to bear the cost of stitching,” said a senior police official.

The allowance, however, seems to be comparatively fair for high-ranked Delhi Police officials. Assistant commissioners of police (ACPs) get `6,000 as uniform allowance at the time of joining and `3,000 every three years as maintenance allowance.

When asked about the meager uniform allowance given to constables, Delhi Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat said, “All allowances are paid as per the the recommendations of the government’s pay commission.” Even though the police officials of all grades have received the benefits of subsequent pay commissions, this meager allowance for uniforms needs to be rectified.

“The uniform allowance should be renewed on the basis of market scenario,” said a constable on the condition of anonymity. After 1992, there was a mushrooming of tailors near the civil lines area in north Delhi, from where most of the police officials get their uniforms stitched. The tailors also acknowledge that stitching costs have increased and tailoring uniform needs an expertise.

“My workers normally take two to three days to stitch a pair of trousers and shirt. The work takes effort and the customer is charged accordingly,” said Dinesh, a tailor who has employed several assistants at his shop in north Delhi. Even though the Delhi Police has stopped the practice of stitching uniforms, other central forces provide stitched uniforms totheir personnel. They have employed in-house tailors for the same.

“We provide stitched uniforms to our cadres; so there is no need to give any kind of allowance,” said a senior official of the Central Industrial Security Force. Another interesting allowance that has not changed since 1992 is the `75 monthly bicycle allowance for police officials who are on ground duty. But most policemen own motorcycles now so the allowance has lost its utility.

—With agency inputs