Bhopal, Jan. 2: Nehru jacket or Modi jacket?

Kunwar Vijay Shah, Madhya Pradesh minister for school education, would not be drawn into a controversy while mandating a dress code for the 2.5 lakh teachers in government schools in the state.

Shah told The Telegraph that a jacket would be integral to the dress code scheduled to be introduced from the 2017 academic session.

"It will carry a nameplate with the words 'Rashtriya Nirmata' (nation-builder) inscribed on it," Shah said, adding that a smart jacket projects seriousness, earnestness and devotion to the nation.

Asked whether he would call it Modi jacket or Nehru jacket, the minister said: "I do not want to rake up a controversy by attaching a name to it. The idea behind introducing a dress code for teachers is to give them a feeling that they are on an important duty. We hope to infuse stronger professionalism among teachers. We want to create a nobler academic ambiance at school."

Nehru jackets are popular with politicians. Prime minister Narendra Modi, who rarely misses any opportunity to blame Jawaharlal Nehru for various ills facing the country, was quick to modify Nehru jackets with a more flamboyant colour scheme that ranges from orange to pink to yellow.

In 2012, Nehru jacket appeared at number seven on the Top 10 list of political fashion statements published by a foreign magazine. The Beatles had sported pale-hued Nehru jackets with prominent breast pockets when they performed in New York's Shea Stadium on August 15, 1965.

Shah said the jackets would be worn by women teachers, too. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj has popularised Nehru jackets among women politicians such as Archana Chitnis, the Madhya Pradesh minister for women and child development, who insists on describing her jacket as "Modi jacket."

Kiran Bedi, now lieutenant governor of Puducherry, is often seen wearing Nehru jackets.

Madhya Pradesh education department sources said the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) would be commissioned to design the dress for the schoolteachers.

The sources said two sets of jackets would be given to all government teachers across the state free of cost.

Shah said the teachers would have the option of wearing shirt and trouser, kurta pyjama, salwar-kameez and sari but wearing jacket on top of the regular attire would be mandatory.

Most teachers sounded happy but some educationalists and the Opposition Congress termed the move "senseless".

Rajendra Jasooja, who teaches at Bhopal's Subhash Excellence School, said: "The dress code will give us more self-respect and a sense of responsibility. Many professions have a dress code - doctors wear a white coat; advocates a black gown. The jacket will motivate us to discharge our duties."

But Zameeruddin Ahmed, an educationalist, termed the dress code a gimmick and said he would have been happier if the authorities had paid more attention to filling teachers' vacancies and developing facilities in schools.

"The jacket is an unnecessary addition, a cosmetic change," he said, pointing out that in rural Madhya Pradesh, over 42,000 posts of teachers are lying vacant in primary and upper primary schools.