Khap panchayats also have their admirers, and, shockingly, in a law enforcing agency like the Chhattisgarh police too, if a recent order by state Police Training Academy is any indication.
In a reported bizarre directive, Chhattisgarh Police Training Academy has enforced a dress code for women inmates prohibiting them from wearing western outfits including jeans during office hours.
All the trainee police women have been directed to avoid putting on dresses like jeans, slacks, leggings and other western outfits, which according to the authorities concerned, are too obscene to be worn in the academy.
The recently issued order, akin to the fatwas issued by khap panchayats, has sparked a murmur of protests from the women police officers, currently undergoing training in the academy.
“All the trainee women police officers have to follow the dress code announced for them during their stay in the academy. Time to time, the inmates have been reminded that the order should be compiled seriously to uphold the high reputation of the academy”, a senior police officer, unwilling to be identified, told this newspaper here on Saturday.
On the contrary, no such dress code has been announced for male police personnel undergoing training in the academy. They are at liberty to choose their dresses ranging from knickers to jeans to any kind of western outfits.
Although, the controversial order was issued in April this year, the issue came into open a couple of days ago, when a trainee police woman in the academy was issued a showcause notice for violating the dress code.