Jaipur: Recognising widespread protests from students, chief minister Vasundhara Raje tweeted on Tuesday, “It has brought to my attention that many students are not happy with this decision. I have therefore asked that uniforms be made voluntary rather than compulsory.”
Rajasthan’s directorate of college education recently issued a controversial order implementing a mandatory
dress code for boys and girls in government-run colleges. Report says that girls can wear either salwar-kameej or saree-blouse, thereby effectively banning jeans/pants for them.
Taking a U turn after after the sharp reactions pouring in on social media, minister of higher education Kiran Maheswari, amended the previous order from making the dress code mandatory to optional. "The dress code is optional. Students and college administration can decide if they want to implement the dress code or not," Maheshari told TOI, while putting an end to the controversy.
She clarified that they had made the dress code mandatory only after students insisted for it during interactions. "During the Shikshak-Chatra Samvad programme, the demand for dress code had come from students was a reason that it was initiated," said Maheshwari. Even when it was made mandatory the college authorities were assigned the task of dress code after considering with the students, adds Maheswari.
The state has 148 government colleges, including 15 law colleges. The code is implemented for the government colleges not for state universities and private institutes. The department had implemented the dress code on the pilot basis in Alwar from January 1, but none of them implemented it. The college administration says such changes can be done only from the start of an academic session.
Meanwhile, the controversy continues on social media. While majority were critzsing the move and termed it ‘Talibani’ but a view supporting the move by explaining that casual dresses give an impression of your social status and lead to class differences which may sometime turn into discrimination.
