Hisar Municipal Corporation has recently issued a dress code notification in Haryana. The directive prohibits employees from wearing jeans during office hours. However, it has met with strong opposition from various quarters.
The directive was issued by Vaishali Sharma, an IAS officer from the 2017 Haryana cadre. She directed that all officers and employees must adhere to a formal dress code during their duty hours, explicitly stating that jeans and similar casual attire should not be worn at work. The move was justified by a municipal officer as necessary to maintain “official decorum.”
Employee groups have raised concerns and demanded the rollback of the order, calling it arbitrary and unnecessary. They argue that the order is inconsistent with service rules and should only apply to specific employees, such as sanitation workers, who are provided uniforms by the department. For other employees, they believe the choice of attire should be left to individual discretion.
Additionally, there are questions about the rationale behind imposing such restrictions, suggesting that employees should have the freedom to decide their own dress code.
This recent dress code controversy follows a similar directive issued in May 2023 by the Ambala Cantonment Municipal Council, which also banned jeans during office hours. An officer from the Ambala Cantonment justified that decision by stating that employees should dress decently, in line with Indian cultural norms, and come to the office only in formal attire.