Maharashtra mulls banning lingerie shop mannequins
This follows the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s resolution demanding the ban.
The Maharashtra government is thinking of stopping shops from displaying mannequins wearing lingerie. The state Labour Department has suggested an amendment in the Shops and Establishment Act so that it can implement the ban. The Labour Department has sent the amendment to the Law and Judiciary Department seeking their opinion. If they clear it, the Cabinet will clear the amendment, paving the way for the ban across the state.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had passed a resolution in July last year to implement the ban on mannequins after a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillor from Ghatkopar, Ritu Tawde demanded the same. The state government needs to approve the amendment in the Act to impose the ban.
“We are waiting for the Law and Judiciary Department’s response. I don’t think there would be any legal glitch in banning these mannequins as the rules for shops and establishments are entirely the state government’s prerogative,” an official with the Labour Department said.
Labour Minister Hassan Mushrif did not respond to text messages or phone calls.
Tawde, 40, came up with the idea of banning the display of lingerie clad mannequins when she went for shopping at Ghatkopar’s M.G. Road. Seeing the “scantily clad” mannequins at the lingerie shops lining the footpath she felt that they would have a corrupting influence on male minds. “Such things are already rampant on TV and internet. They have now reached the footpaths. Shopkeepers display the scantily clad mannequins to catch the lusty eyes of men. Women feel embarrassed to walk on these footpaths. Our culture does not permit such indecency in public,” she argued.
Viren Shah, the president of the Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association, opposed the ban saying this was unacceptable in the 21st century. Devyani Chhetri, a Dadar resident, described the proposal as senseless: “There is so much emphasis on a woman’s right to wear whatever clothes she wants to. When a ban is thought to be put, it is on women’s apparel but not on a man’s derogatory