Protest broke out as the N G Acharya and D G Marathe College in Mumbai as it turned away burqa-clad students when they appear for classes since the college has introduced uniforms for junior college students from June 15 as part of the National Education Policy. Girls in senior college are permitted to wear burqas or headscarves inside of classrooms and on college premises. The college counselled students for over a month and eventually made the uniforms mandatory from August 1.
Girls began to protest at the gate last week and more students soon joined them. The college gave the uniforms time after police and local authorities stepped in. The uniform policy is tight, according to principal Vidyagauri Lele, and no burqas, hijabs, dupattas, headgear, ties, or stickers will be permitted. The incident brought to mind last year's protests in Karnataka colleges after the hijab was forbidden because it was not required under the dress code.
Though classes 11 and 12 come under the school education department, state colleges do not have a uniform policy. In CBSE and CISCE schools, Plus 2 students don uniforms. Principal Vidyagauri Lele took a strong stand: “To bring uniformity in the classroom attire for junior college students, the administration decided to introduce uniforms from this academic year. The suggestion came from our teachers, was approved by the governing council and was informed to the parents in May.”