Kathmandu, October 1:

In a move which reminds one of the long-dead Panchayati system, the Nepal Police has renamed the regional police unit offices as zonal police offices. This has been independently confirmed by reliable sources at the police headquarters. Sources said that the police headquarters has officially begun the task of renaming the regional police unit offices as zonal offices in earnest. Significantly, initiative to this effect was reportedly taken by the Cabinet Council in a meeting held soon after it decided in the recent past to establish zonal administrators in all 14 zones. It may be recalled that the zonal police offices which were headed by Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) were renamed as regional police unit offices following the fall of the Panchayat system and the restoration of democracy in 1990 as a part of administrative reforms.

“Police headquarters has renamed the regional police unit offices as zonal police offices as per the decision taken by the cabinet,” said an Additional Inspector General of Police stationed at the police headquarters. According to him, the zonal police offices will now fall under the zonal administrators as was the arrangement under the Panchayati era. Zonal police offices were brought into existence through the 1977 regulations that defined the role and functioning of zonal offices. The 47,349-strong Nepal Police, as an institution, dates back to the year 1952 before being legally recognised as a law enforcement agency with the introduction of Police Act-1956.