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India Post to adorn Khadi uniforms

After more than 160 years of establishment of postal services in India, the 90,000 employees (postmen and postwomen) in the country will be attiring the national fabric (Khadi) as their new uniform from February 2018 onwards. Amid much fervour and enthusiasm, Giriraj Singh, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Manoj Sinha, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Communications, jointly launched the Khadi uniform for the staff of India Post at a function in Udyog Bhawan, New Delhi on January 29.
Incidentally, it was also the first time that the Department of Posts in Uttarakhand, wholeheartedly accepted the proposal of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) Chairman, Vinai Kumar Saxena to adopt Khadi as the uniform of all of its postal employees in the Uttrakhand region in 2016, besides the orders for furniture made by the village industries units of KVIC. This initiative gained the appreciation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his monthly radio programme 'Mann ki Baat'.
Taking inspiration from PM's vision to adopt this fabric, Saxena left no stone unturned to contact several government departments and state governments. And now, the KVIC has found another taker as the Department of Posts, which had recently decided to make Khadi as the uniform for its letter-carriers.
Taking attention of KVIC Chairman's request letter about introducing Khadi dress material for the uniform in all the Post Offices across the country, A K Nanda, Secretary, Department of Posts (Ministry of Communication) said that all the postal circles have been informed about procurement of uniform through KVIC.
"Department of Post will give Rs 5000 to each of its employee for purchasing two sets of uniforms in a year. The 90,000 postmen and postwomen would be given two sets of their new outfits," said Nanda in a statement.
The new Khadi uniforms for postmen and postwomen are specially designed by the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) for the Department of Posts. "It is really encouraging for us that KVIC has got this prestigious order to supply the new uniforms for the postmen and postwomen in the country, with a value of the order of approximately Rs 48 crore. This order will certainly increase the income of our artisans," Saxena said. "It will also catch the attention of other departments to adopt Khadi as their uniform," he added.
It may be noted that 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 two sets of clothes to be given to each of them. While the women will be given two pairs of salwar kameez, designed with a chic look – costing Rs 1,700 a pair, the men will be given two pairs of shirts and trousers – each pair costing Rs 1,600. All the uniforms will be made of Khadi fabric and will carry khaki colour.

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