Now, school uniforms are no longer limited to students in Madhya Pradesh. A dress code is to be imposed on government school teachers from the new academic session starting 2017.
Teachers would have the option of wearing shirt and trouser, kurta pyjama, salwar-kameez and sari but they would have to wear an identical jacket on top of whatever else they choose to wear. They will also have to sport a nameplate bearing 'Rashtra Nirmata' (nation builder).
The Madhya Pradesh education department sources say that the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) would be commissioned to design the outfit for the school teachers. The education department prefers the vest coat to be made of khadi. It will be distributed by the school education department.
School education minister Vijay Shah said that the move will make teachers "feel that they are on an important duty".
"We hope to infuse stronger professionalism among teachers. We want to create a nobler academic ambience at school," he added.
However, it seems that Vijay Shah has been very careful about nomenclature. According to a report in the Telegraph, upon being asked whether this 'vest-coat' was a Nehru jacket or a Modi jacket, Shah said: "I do not want to rake up a controversy by attaching a name to it."
Nehru jackets have always been rather popular. Narendra Modi who has been critical of Nehru and his policies appropriated the desi vest-coat and owns a large number of them in various unconventional colours. The BJP thus doesn't even call it a Jawahar jacket, they call it a Modi jacket.
Other than teachers, students of the 1.23 lakh government schools in the state will have the same uniform. Self-help groups will be distributing the uniforms to 50 lakh elementary and middle schools students.
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