Caught between proverbial devil and deep sea, the education directorate has made the dress code for the government teachers optional and shifted the onus of its implementation on the Additional Directors of Garhwal and Kumaon respectively. The education minister Arivind Pandey had floated the idea of dress code for teachers and other employees of the education department but the powerful unions of teachers opposed the idea. Treading a cautious middle path, the department has now decided to make the dress code optional.
In a letter directed to Additional Directors of Garhwal and Kumaon the Director General (DG) of school education Captain Alok Shekhar Tiwari has said that the education minister has ordered that a dress code (optional) for the teachers of government schools should be decided and implemented from August 01. The Additional Directors would now consult with the officials and representatives of the different teacher organisation and would decide the dress code. It would be however on the wisdom and discretion of the teachers to wear the dress code decided by the department.