There’s a good news for all the 33 Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary battalions in the state as the UP PAC authorities have revived the moustache reward by 400% for personnel who have big, twirly moustaches. Allowance for the upkeep of moustaches has been jacked nearly five times from Rs 50 to Rs 250 a month.
The move is seen as an attempt by the UP PAC authorities to revive the trend of recognizing those personnel who have robust moustaches.
Additional director general (ADG) PAC, Binod Kumar Singh, said erlier the PAC men were getting Rs 50 for maintaining a moustache but now they will be given Rs 250 per month for sporting robust moustaches. He added that the trend of sporting big moustaches among cop had declined and it is high time that this should be revived.
He said the aim of the moustache reward was to “keep old traditions alive along with encouraging modern professional skills”.
He continued stating that his focus would also be on improving cops’ fitness and basic training. “Apart from that, we want to launch mid-service training sessions for the personnel,” he said.
Old-timers say that the allowance was regular till mid-80s. But after implementation of the new police uniform rules 1986, which has clear instructions about haircuts and the obligation of shaving every day, the era of ‘clean-shaven cops’ began. The rules had no guidelines on moustaches.
