Uniform makers overwhelmed by high demand

NAGPUR: Cloth manufacturers and schools say the uniform supply shortage is becoming more and more pronounced in the last few weeks, impacting students everywhere. Problems related to labour and hike in fabric prices, have created hurdles for manufacturers which is impacting the entire supply chain of school uniforms.
“A 30% gap has come up now in the demand-supply chain,” said Kishore Tutheja, director of Lords Wear Pvt Ltd, one of the leading uniform manufacturers in the country.
“There are multiple reasons for it, but the most important one is that nobody was expecting demand to come back so sharply to even cross the pre-Covid levels. In the last two years school uniform manufacturers had become cautious because of the constant closing-reopening-closing of institutes,” he said.
“So nobody had stocked up raw materials to the level required because who knew that schools would start in normal mode, and that too on time. Second issue is that following lockdown, many labour shifted to setting up their own micro-level work or joined some other field. Only half of such people have come back which is why our sector is facing an acute labour shortage,” said Tutheja.
The impact of this short supply has been felt be many schools at different levels. What has prevented this demand-supply gap from blowing out of proportion is that many parents had purchased uniforms in February when schools had reopened and it still fits their ward, at least for now.
Lucky Sadrani, principal of Podar International School (Katol) said, “We have two different uniforms and parents have managed to get their hands on at least one of them. So we have allowed them to wear that only, as it’s not their fault.”
Sumathi Venugopalan, a senior academic who is currently a consultant to a well known CBSE school, said the uniform shortage is very real. “Vendors are struggling to get their stock from different places. So their smart moves have resulted in some sizes, either shirts or pants/skirts not available. Schools are not forcing parents to get it immediately and have kept it flexible for parents’ convenience,” she said.
A parent, who also happens to be a teacher in a CBSE school, said, “My kid is in high school and new uniform is still not available.”
Aruna Rao, principal of Central India Public School (Kamptee) said, “A few students have not got uniforms and we are allowing them in civil dress until they purchase a new pair.”
Garments manufacturer Tutheja said, “We expect the situation to normalize within a few months, till then the situation remains tight.”