A day after issuing a new dress code banning jeans and other western attires on the campus, the Sarojini Naidu Government Girls Degree College in Bhopal also called Nutan College, relaxed the rule for the final-year undergraduate and post-graduate students on Tuesday.
According to the college order effective from January 1, girls are allowed only to wear a salwar suit with check-patterned jacket. A mannequin -- a dummy displaying the approved dresses -- was put up on the campus.
In November, the college administration had banned use of mobile phones and covering of face with scarves by students.
Though the new order left the girls fuming, the final-year students protested against the code, saying they did not want to spend on the dress as they would complete their courses after six months.
The college administration then allowed final-year students to wear dresses of their choice. College principal Vandan Agnihotri said, “A relaxation has been given to final-year students. Students other than those in the final year will have to follow the dress code.”
Divya Verma, a final-year home science student, said, “We are happy that the administration listened to our problem, and allowed us to not follow the dress code on the campus.”
The first- and second-year students also demanded relaxation of the dress code. “We are demanding equal treatment as a dress code is being implemented only in the girls’ colleges of the capital city. Authorities are unnecessarily trying to teach us what a girl should wear and what not,” said a student requesting anonymity.
Bhopal’s MLB Girl College implemented a dress code on January 1, 2012.
In October this year, state higher education minister Jaibhan Singh Pawaiya talked about his department’s plan to introduce a dress code for undergraduate students in government colleges to bring what he called uniformity.
