In a bid to prevent colour variation in the uniform of its personnel, the Maharashtra Police Department has decided to purchase khaki fabric for its staff instead of giving them money to buy it themselves.

The department will also start buying batons for the staff soon, officials said.

The khaki fabric that the department intends to purchase now, will be dope-dyed.

"Very soon, we will start procuring uniform cloth for our constabulary-level police personnel-- from constables to assistant sub inspectors," a senior police official from the Director General of Police (DGP) office told PTI.

"This will be a major revamp in the uniform policy.

The department has decided to provide dope-dyed khaki fabric to the staff across the state to bring uniformity in the uniform colour," the official said.

The Maharashtra police force is said to be the second largest in the country with 2.2 lakh personnel -- 2 lakh constabulary-rank police staff and more than 20,000 officers.

"As per the current practice, the state government annually gives Rs 5,167 each to the police personnel to buy the kit- which includes the uniform cloth and batons," an official said.

The members of the police department buy the khaki cloth on their own from the sum, which leads to variation in the shade of the uniform. This difference is especially conspicuous during the parades or assemblies, he said.

"Sometimes, the quality of the fabric is not up to the standards of the police force," he said.

"To bring an end to all this, the police headquarters has decided to purchase the uniform fabric, which would be dope-dyed, and give it to the personnel. The dope-dyed fabric has a shine. This move will help bring in evenness in the police uniforms," the official said.

"We will also procure batons for the two lakh

constabulary-rank personnel. Earlier they used to procure the 'lathis' from local vendors," he said.

The official said that since the police will be procuring these two items, the amount included in the money provided to the staff to buy the kit, would be slashed.