New year, new clothes! India Post to get a chic khadi makeover

While a postman or a postwoman delivering mail is not a very common sight these days, those who are still doing the rounds every day will now do so in chic outfits.

The inspiration, of course, came from our very own Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The elegantly dressed Modi has been appealing for more and more people to adopt khadi since he first took office and he has now found takers in the postal department.

The new khadi uniforms will be designed by professionals from the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT). Each of the 62,000 postmen and postwomen will be given two sets of their new outfits, along with sweaters for winter months.

“Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has got this huge order to design and develop the new uniforms for the postmen and postwomen in the country,” sources in the government said, adding that the total value of the order was around Rs 31 crore.

Each postman/postwoman working for India Post gets an annual uniform allowance of Rs 5,000, and the same amount would be spent on making the two sets of clothes to be given to each of them. One can expect to see the letter-carriers in their new outfits as early as February.

The women will be given pairs of salwar kameez, designed with a chic look, while the men will be given shirts and trousers. The uniforms will all be made of khadi and are expected to be khaki-coloured.

India Post is not the first government department to be getting khadi uniforms. Cabin crew aboard the Air India One, the official aircraft of the president and the prime minister, are also dressed in khadi outfits. While the female cabin crew wear khadi silk sarees, the male crew sport khadi silk jackets.