After teachers across Kerala complained that several schools and colleges in the state police the attire of women teachers, the state’s higher education minister has reasserted the right of women to dress as they want to in a series of tweets. The minister also stated that the state government had issued a circular on May 9, 2014, insisting that institutions cannot dictate what teachers should wear or shouldn’t. The higher education department also issued a new circular last week, amid the row sparked by a college asking a lecturer to not wear salwar-kameez to classes.
The minister, R Bindu, stated in her tweets in no uncertain terms that this type of policing should be stopped as it is not progressive. "The government has already made clear its stance in this regard multiple times. Teachers have every right to dress as per their comfort in Kerala regardless of the kind of institutes they work at. This practice of imposing sari on our teachers is not conducive to Kerala's progressive attitude," she said.
Bindu, who was herself a professor at the Sree Kerala Varma College in Thrissur, also stated that she used to “wear churidars regularly.” She also shared the experiences of a young lecturer from Kodungallur she spoke to regarding the issue. “Though she has the necessary qualifications, the staff apparently put forward a condition that she had to wear a sari everyday if she wanted to work there. After news reports on this, more such incidents have been brought to attention,” Bindu explained.
"While a teacher has several responsibilities, adhering to such outdated and obsolete ideas is not one of them. One's choice of dressing is an entirely personal matter. No one has the right to criticise or interfere in another's sartorial choices," she further added.