Jaipur, July 11: Rajasthan government employees have had a dress code imposed on them after an official photographer wore a bright red T-shirt to an event attended by chief minister Vasundhara Raje.

A circular issued last week by the state directorate of information and public relations, for which the photographer worked, has banned its employees from wearing jeans, T-shirts or floaters to office or government events involving dignitaries.

Male employees at the chief minister's office too have been verbally instructed to wear light-coloured shirts and formal trousers.

Sources said the government photographer's perky red T-shirt had shocked the chief minister at a June 24 event where she met SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son from Japan. Some of the other government photographers and video-graphers at the event too were dressed in jeans and T-shirts, they added.

After the event, an annoyed Vasundhara is said to have asked government employees not to be dressed too casually, especially in jeans and T-shirts.

State director of information and public relations Anil Kumar Gupta confirmed the dress diktat.

"Ideally, all staff members should be dressed in formals in office. But the code is meant especially for the photographers, video-graphers and public relations officials who are out in the field and have to cover official functions," he told The Telegraph. "One cannot present a shabby look before visiting dignitaries."

Sources said this was the first official dress code issued by any department of the state government. They added that young employees of other sections of the directorate, such as research and reference, often wore casual clothes to office but would now have to change their habits.

Senior women officials had earlier defeated a bid to have them wear saris to office and special events by successfully arguing that salwar suits were more comfortable and easier to handle.

Vasundhara herself is partial to traditional leheriya and bandhni saris as well as floral chiffon saris.

Jagdeep Singh, a PR professional hired by the industry department, said there had always been "an unwritten dress code" in government offices, especially in the industry department.

"One cannot just come wearing T-shirts and jeans. It's a good move to get the people covering important events to look well-groomed as well," he said.

Neither the Centre nor most state governments have an official dress code for employees barring an unwritten code for IAS and IPS officers when they receive dignitaries.

The male civil servants among them are supposed to wear a bandhgala, a safari suit, or a light-coloured shirt with formal trousers and leather shoes on these occasions. The women are expected to wear something "appropriate", such as a silk sari.

In May this year, two young district collectors in Chhattisgarh were officially warned for receiving Prime Minister Narendra Modi wearing sunglasses, with one of them rapped additionally for wearing a dark blue shirt.