PM suggests ‘One Nation, One Police Uniform’, says will give common identity to law enforcement

SURAJKUND (HARYANA): The idea of ‘One Nation, One Police Uniform’ for police personnel mooted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday is yet another scheme of his government for a common policy for citizen-centric services.

This was suggested by the prime minister at a meeting here of state home ministers — Chintan Shivir — in which he also emphasised that crimes have become borderless and this needs a collective response.

The government had earlier launched ‘One Nation, One Mobility’ card, ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’, ‘One Nation, One Sign Language’ and ‘One Nation, One Grid’.

“This is a suggestion and it may take five years or 50 years to implement, but let us at least start thinking in that direction,” Modi said, adding that “One Nation, One Police Uniform will give a common identity to law enforcement”.

The prime minister asked the gathering to consider the proposal as this will not only ensure quality products due to scale but will also give a common identity to law enforcement with citizens recognising police personnel anywhere in the country.

“States can have their number or insignia. ‘One Nation, One Police Uniform’, I am just putting forward this as a thought for your consideration,” he said on the second and last day of the conference.

The government has launched the implementation of nationwide portability of ration cards through the ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’ plan under the Department of Food and Public Distribution, with an aim to empower about 81 crore beneficiaries.

The citizen-centric initiative is being implemented in 34 states and union territories in a short-span of time after being sanctioned in 2018-19 and implemented from August 2019, according to a government statement.

Another such policy is the ‘One Nation, One Mobility’ bank issued card that allows people to use them for payments across segments, including metro, bus, suburban railways, toll, parking and retail.

The ‘One Nation, One Grid’ is a policy for interconnecting power stations and consumption centres of the country.

Grid management in India on a regional basis had started in the sixties. In the beginning, state grids were interconnected to form a regional grid and the country was demarcated into five regions — northern, eastern, western, northeastern and southern.

With time, each grid was connected to the other to allow greater availability and transfer of power.

It all came together when the southern region was connected to the central grid, with the commissioning of the 765 kV Raichur-Solapur Transmission Line, thereby achieving ‘One Nation, One Grid, One Frequency’. The Srinagar Leh Transmission System was connected to the national grid, and was dedicated to the nation by the prime minister in 2019.

The ‘One Nation, One Sign Language’ project was launched to make National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) educational books and material available across the country.

This helps all hearing impaired students to read NCERT books in a single language known as the Indian Sign Language. Implementation of the ‘One Nation, One Sign Language’ is part of the new National Educational Policy (NEP), notified in July 2020. (PTI)