Special Parliament session: Staff to don uniform with Indian touch

The new uniforms will have an "Indian" touch, including Manipuri headgear for marshals, lotus motif shirts, and new saree designs for women officers.

New Delhi Parliament staff, both inside and outside the two Houses, will sport new uniforms as they move to the new Parliament building next week, Lok Sabha officials familiar with the matter said. The new uniform, they added on condition of anonymity, will have an “Indian” touch.

The new uniforms will include Manipuri headgear for the marshals of the two Houses, and shirts with lotus motif (which also adorns the carpets in the Rajya Sabha in the new building) for officers in the table office, notice office and parliamentary reporting sections. All women officers will get sarees with new designs, the officials said. (PTI)

The new uniforms will include Manipuri headgear for the marshals of the two Houses, and shirts with lotus motif (which also adorns the carpets in the Rajya Sabha in the new building) for officers in the table office, notice office and parliamentary reporting sections. All women officers will get sarees with new designs, the officials said.

To be sure, the lotus is India’s national flower, but the proposal may spark a political controversy as it is also the poll symbol of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

According to the officials, all 18 National Institutes of Fashion Technology (NIFTs) were asked to suggest new designs for the uniforms. “An expert committee finalised the new uniform from those proposals,” said one of the officials.

Officers from all five key branches of the Parliament secretariat—reporting, table office, notice office, legislative branch and security—will sport new uniforms in this session, as will the marshals. “These branches deal with MPs [members of Parliament] and other visitors. In many ways, they are the face of the Parliament secretariat. Their uniforms add to the dignity and glamour of the Indian Parliament,” a second? official added.

The marshals, who stand beside the Chair and assist presiding officers , will now wear cream coloured kurta pyjamas instead of safari suits. They will also wear Manipuri headgear instead of a turban.

The officers of the five departments too, will abandon their pale blue safari suits and sport button-down shirts with a lotus motif. They will wear cream-coloured jackets and pale white trousers. This will be a significant change from the current range of safari suits in blue, fawn, Prussian blue and charcoal shades, depending on the section.

The table office handles the entire range of paperwork for the House and sorts questions for Question Hour. The Parliament security branch, headed by an IPS officer, is responsible for maintaining the internal security of the complex. The government has deployed paramilitary forces to external security of the complex.

The reporting branch, which sits in the Well in front of the Speaker’s chair, takes verbatim notes of all discussions inside the House and parliamentary committees. The Legislative branch works as the secretariat for introduction of bills.

In 2000, Parliament officials of these five section, were also given allowances up to ₹17,000 for women and ₹16,000 for men to buy uniforms; the allowance was payable every two years.

The five-day special session of Parliament that has been scheduled from September 18 to 22, will be partly held in the new Parliament building, said people familiar with the matter. While the first day of the session will be held in the old building, the remaining part of the session will be held in the new building that was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 28.

Lok Sabha officials said the new building is fully prepared for hosting the special session, the agenda for which is yet to be disclosed by the union government.