A government college in Bokaro with over 5,000 students is taking a number of measures to instil a sense of discipline, among which is the strict enforcement of a dress code for students and installation of CCTV cameras to ensure compliance.
While students of Bokaro Steel City College, a constituent of Vinoba Bhave University (VBU), haven't rejected the move outright, many, however, felt it was unnecessary, regressive and smacked of "going back to school."
A notice, signed by principal S.P. Sharma, was put up on the board on Wednesday. It specifies uniforms for both boys and girls and explains that the move was to improve the academic atmosphere on campus and keep out anti-socials.
While boys would have to wear black trousers and white shirts, girls would have to stick to white tops and black salwars or trousers.
The notice also gives students three months time to have their uniforms ready.
"The decision to opt for uniforms has been taken to instil discipline and provide better security to students on campus. We will seriously implement this from April 1," explained principal Sharma.
But many students The Telegraph spoke to weren't convinced about the dress code.
"So, no more blue jeans and pink tops anymore? This is wrong. It's like taking away our freedom," said Rashmi Kumari, a third year arts student.
Rashmi said the uniforms meant as though they were going back to school, to which her friends Puja and Swati agreed.
"There are other ways to bring about discipline other than imposing a dress code. There's nothing of this sort in Delhi or Calcutta," fumed Swati.
However, vice chancellor of VBU Gurdeep Singh said all their colleges were free to enforce a dress code. "Uniforms for students can be mandated in any college falling under VBU. There is no harm in doing so," he told The Telegraph.
Sharma said they were trying to counsel students. "We are educating students as to why uniforms are essential to bring in discipline," he said, adding that the college was taking several other measures too, like, installing as many as 10 CCTV cameras and employing a private agency for proper security.
While the CCTV cameras would be installed at 10 spots, including main entrance, canteen, library, corridors, principal office and staff room, private security guards would be manning the main gates of the college.
The guards, the principal noted, had been instructed from Monday to allow only those carrying a college ID card.
These measures coincide with the college's efforts to seek accreditation from National Assessment & Accreditation Council (NAAC), Bangalore. Sharma said they had sent an SSR (self study report) of the college to the council on December 22, 2015.
"A NAAC team would be visiting the campus either in March or April for inspection," he said, adding that all departments had been asked to prepare evaluation reports to present to the NAAC team.
