KATHMANDU: Do not be surprised if you find police officers donned with dazzling metallic insignia about their shoulders in place of cotton badges. Under the scheme of things, the police will replace their cotton-made insignia with metallic ones and carry with them digital ID cards effective from tomorrow.

To mark the Police Day tomorrow, police inspectors and all those ranking higher in the hierarchy of police organisation, will wear their first new badges and electronic ID cards about their uniform.

DIG Binod Singh, spokesperson, Nepal Police, said the move was to bolster up the morale of the police and start something anew in the police department.

"The uniform works like a refreshing agent to law eneforcement officials, getting them involved in maintaining law and order," DIG Singh told The Himalayan Times.

The rust-free metal remains radiant and striking and could withstand wear and tear for at least three years, something the cotton insignia had failed to withstand, he said. "Cotton insignia fades early with exposure to sunlight and laundry."

The eligible police officials have already collected their new ID cards and insignias from the Nepal Police Headquarters.

However, the combat dress and Chusta will retain their cotton badges, informed DIG Singh. The move is to curb criminal activities but also to inculcate a feeling of patriotism among the police and make them feel duty-bound, said Singh. The machine-readable digital ID cards bear hi-tech barcode which helps the department identify the officials if they are caught guilty of violating laws.

Earlier, the police officials used to display paper-made ID cards with their photos affixed on it.

As plans go, the government is gradually replacing the cotton badges and paper ID cards of all the police personnel.

Nepal Police has a total strength of 56,069 men with 1,543 gazetted ranks. Armed Police Force introduced the metallic insignia in 2007. It is effective for officials ranking above SSP.