Govt Employees Banned From Wearing Jeans, T-Shirt In This City: ‘Sends the Wrong Message’

It can be very tricky being a government official in India. You not only have to look out for the well-being of the country’s people, you also have to make sure that the team of people you are heading is also conducting itself in high regard. And, sometimes as ahead, you just might have to even give instruction on trivial topics as dress code.

The exact same thing happened in Uttarakhand’s Bageshwar district. A district magistrate at this place has issued an order asking district officials and employees not to wear denim and T-shirts during their office shifts.

DM issues a notice regarding dress code

In the order, Bageshwar’s District Magistrate Vineet Kumar stated that it does not look graceful when employees or other officials attend meetings sporting such outfits. Hence he has ordered all employees and district officials to adhere to the new rules and not wear denim, t-shirts during meetings with higher officials.

“It has come to my notice that some district-level employees and officials are sporting denim and T-shirts while attending meetings of senior officials. This doesn’t look decent for a government servant,” Kumar said in his order. The order was issued to the heads of departments in Bageshwar district. The DM also said that sporting denim and t-shirts does not only send a “wrong message” to people but also tarnishes the image of the office.

Action will be taken against officials not following the dress code

Even though the order stated that employees must attend office in ‘decent formal attire’, DM did not specifically mention any dress code for government employees.

The onus of implementation of this order has been given to the head of respective departments. The concerned heads should ensure the implementation of the order else necessary action would be initiated, it order letter added.

While welcoming the move, the president of Uttarakhand Secretariat (Employees) Union Deepak Joshi said they had urged employees to dress appropriately.

It should be noted that Uttarakhand is not the first state to witness such an order. In the past, Bihar, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Himachal Pradesh had also issued a dress code for all their employees.