NIFT designs Khadi uniforms for the India Post

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Jan 31, 2018

​The 163-year-old India Post in New Delhi will be supplied with uniforms designed by the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) using the sustainable Khadi textile.

From February this year, a total of 90,000 India Post New Delhi employees will be kitted out in Khadi uniforms specially designed by members of NIFT. This development followed the success of the Uttarakhand Department of the Post adopting Khadi uniforms in collaboration with the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) in 2016. This caught the attention of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi who praised it on several occasions for aligning with his heavily publicised “Make in India” campaign and this set the scene for the New Delhi Post to do the same.

The 90,000 employees will each be given two sets of Khadi uniforms, and it is hoped that postal services in other areas will be inspired to follow suit. 

“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 [approximately 7.2 million US dollars],” said A K Nanda, the Secretary of the Department of Posts (Ministry of Communication).

“This order will certainly increase the income of our artisans… [and] will also catch attention of other departments to adopt Khadi as their uniform.”

The news marks a large scale government collaboration for the NIFT and another move by the Union Government to promote India’s traditional, sustainable textiles. The eight lakh metres of Khadi textile required to produce the uniforms in collaboration with KVIC will be a large boost to the sector and, if other states follow suit, could have a real impact on domestic Khadi production.