Hyderabad: The University of Hyderabad has prescribed a new dress code for convocations: Kurta pyjama or kurta dhoti for men, saree or salwar kameez for women. The material should be handloom cotton or silk and the colour should be off white or pale cream.
The decades-old gown was replaced by the traditional Indian attire after the university received an advisory from the Centre to institute a dress code to promote handlooms and khadi.
Students have to purchase the attire, as well as an angavastram for the convocation scheduled for October 1 at Shilpa Kala Vedika.
Some students took to social media against the dress code, complaining of “moral policing” and “sangh agenda”.
One student posted, “Today dress code for convocation, tomorrow it will be compulsory in classes.”
Many universities have discarded the colonial-era gown at convocations, among them IIT-Bombay, Gujarat Technological University and Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology as also Guru Ghasidas Central University in Chhattisgarh.
