Branded fabric for Rs 49 per metre, or a pair of socks for Rs 18, Lok Sabha authorities are offering a whole range of cloth and accessories for its officers at prices that can beat any end-of-season sale. The secretariat has put out a circular listing as many as 50 items available for sale, fabric for shirts, trousers, summer suits, winter suits, uniforms for marshals of the House, belts, shoes, socks, neckties, and even leather gloves and jackets.
A leather jacket is available for Rs 1,600, while a pair of leather shoes for drivers and attendants can be bought for Rs 520. Shoes for protocol department officials, who handle VVIP guests and international seminars, are priced at Rs 1,200.
Similarly, fabrics from Mayur for protocol officers are available from Rs 473 per metre, while white shirts can be bought at Rs 300 each. But these items are only available for House officials and one can only buy up to six meters of fabric.
Most of them are branded items. One can get fabrics from Raymonds, Reid, and Taylor or even Mayur and Vimal. As many as 17 items are available at steeper discounts, including Reid and Tailor cloth for reporters’ uniforms at Rs 32 per metre or Raymond cloth for summer uniforms at just Rs 32 per metre. Indian Parliament secretariat has about 2,500 officials. They only buy cloth for their uniform from the secretariat as it matches the prescribed color and style.
The strict dress code of Lok Sabha officials has seen several changes over the years. Its biggest transformation took place in 2019, leading to a better quality of uniforms this year.
Earlier, Lok Sabha officials would buy cloth once in two years, which they would get stitched by any of the 4-5 Delhi tailors empanelled with the secretariat. Now, women officers get a uniform allowance of up to Rs 17,000 and men get up to Rs 16,000, depending on the nature of their jobs and ranks.