IIT-D tells female hostelers to be 'suitably attired' for event

In a mysterious turn of events, where no one has owned up for the act, the female occupants of Himardi Hostel for women in Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in a notice have been instructed to wear 'full covered decent western or Indian dresses' for the House Day, an annual event scheduled on April 20.

"All the residents are requested to wear full covered decent western or Indian dresses on the House Day,"read the notice.

It was put up on April 16, undersigned by the hostel's warden, Sreedevi Upadhyayula.

The 'House Day' is an annual event at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) where the occupants of the hostel can invite guests into the hostel premises for an hour.

Taking the matter to social media site Facebook, the students posted: "Why do our administrations have this anxiety and desperate need to police what women wear? Every other day, there is some absurd diktat in one institution or another."

Contrary to the controversy, the reputed institution in this regard announced that they have no intention of imposing any dress code for the event.

According to reports, the Dean of students, S Krishna stated that he has instructed his office to call the hostel and tell the staff that they should immediately remove the notice.

He also mentioned that the institution has never interfered in the personal affairs of the students, be it boys or girls.

Taken back by the act, the hostelers stated that a notice with such instructions was put up for the first time.

"This is the first time I have seen such a notice put up in the hostel. We have been given such instructions earlier also, but they were verbal and never printed,"said a female resident of Himadri Hostel.

Reports stated: Terming the entire issue as an act based on the hostel warden's personal opinion, Professor V Ramgopal Rao, Director IITD said, "I will speak with the concerned warden and ask her to withdraw such a notice. This is entirely her personal opinion and she has put it up on her own as a warden. We have no intention of imposing any dress code."

In contrary to this, the warden said, "I have not issued any such notice. It looks like some prank by students as it has been circulated on social media as well. I have been told that it has my signatures as well and I have called a meeting of the hostel staff to investigate the issue."

Meanwhile, Swati Maliwal, Chairperson Delhi Commission for Women stated that it has been a horrible display of a patriarchal mindset by such a prestigious institution. "It is difficult for me to understand that what purpose does it serves by making women wear complete clothes. This kind of moral policing needs to stop,"said Maliwal.