IIT hostel asks girls to dress ‘decently’, warden denies charge

A notice asking residents of a women’s hostel at the IIT, Delhi to wear “full covered decent western or Indian dresses” for their House Day on April 20. The notice was put up only to be pulled down following criticism.

House day is an annual event at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-D) where residents can invite guests in the hostel for an hour.

The notice, put up at Himadri hostel and allegedly signed by the warden, was shared by the inmates with Pinjra Tod — a students’ group fighting discriminatory rules for women in varsities.

However, Sreedevi Upadhyayula, warden of Himadri hostel and associate professor at Department of Chemical Engineering, said no such dress code has been issued.

“Why will I slam such dress codes on students? This is not a thing I would do. It looks like some prank by students and this time it has even gone out of the hostel... If such a notice has been put up I will call a meeting and investigate the matter,” said Upadhyayula.

Students from the hostel said they saw the notice on Monday but by Tuesday afternoon the notice was taken down. “We have been told verbally in the past to be fully covered but a written notice has been issued for the first time,” said a female student from BTech final year.

Priyanshi, general secretary of students’ affair council (SAC) and a resident of the hostel said, “The said notice has been taken down. The rules for boys and girls are pretty much same here. No one tells us what to wear as even today I am wearing shorts.”

There are two girls’ hostels in IIT Delhi - Himadri and Kailash.

The DCW also took note of the matter and its chief Swati Maliwal said, “It is a horrible display of a patriarchal mindset by a prestigious institution like IIT. This kind of moral policing needs to stop. The DCW is looking into the matter.”