NEW DELHI: When Parliament opens for its special session on September 18, its staffers will be seen in completely new attire. Marshals — the ones who are called to evict unruly parliamentarians — will no longer be in a business-like safari suit for work.
They will wear a cream-coloured kurta and pyjama with a pink jacket. The jacket will have lotus motifs. Interestingly, their headgear resembles the Manipuri Kokyet, which could be a symbolic outreach to the riot-torn state. The lotus motif will be there on the headgear as well.
As for women chamber attendants in Parliament, their dress code is the traditional sari with a pink border paired with a pink jacket. Male chamber attendants will have a deep brown attire. As for other security personnel inside Parliament, they will be seen in cream-coloured shirts and trousers. For those on security detail outside Parliament, the colour of their uniform will be different.
The new dress code is said to have been designed by experts at the National Institute of Fashion Technology after wide consultation with experts. Though no official statement has been made so far, sources said employees in traditional Indian attire will give Parliament a new look.
The use of lotus motif in the design drew flak from Congress whip in the Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore, who questioned why the lotus, the national bird, was added to the uniform and not the tiger or the peacock, the national animal and the national bird, respectively.
“Why lotus only? Why can’t a peacock or why can’t a tiger? Oh, they’re not the BJP party election symbol. Why this fall sir Om Birla (Speaker),” the Congress leader said on X, using the hashtag “#NewDressForParliamentStaff.”