IIT Delhi Issues ‘Dress Code’ for Women, Dean Calls It a ‘Prank’

Reports say that the circular issuing the dress code diktat has now been removed from IIT’s Himadri Hostel.

Students protest over discriminatory rules in the new Hindu College Hostel. Image used for representational purposes. (Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Pinjra Tod)

Another day, another diktat is now the story on educational campuses across the country, with IIT Delhi being the latest to join the bandwagon.

Ahead of an event on 20 April, a notice was posted at the Himadri Hostel “requesting” female students to “wear a full covered western or Indian dresses”.

A picture of the notice was shared with Pinjra Tod – a student campaign fighting discriminatory hostel rules for women – and has sparked wide outrage.

The circular outside Himadri Hostel. (Photo Courtesy: Pinjra Tod)

Pinjra Tod responded to the notice with:

Why do our administrations have this anxiety and desperate need to police what women wear?

Delhi Commission chief Swati Maliwal, too, has slammed the move and said a notice will be soon sent to the IIT administration.

While speaking to CNN-News18, Maliwal said that there are many such fights being lodged in different educational institutes, but the “huge patriarchal system wants to crush it”.

But an India Today report said that IIT Delhi’s Dean of Students’ Affairs has asked for the circular to be removed and has said that it could be a “prank” pulled by students.