Bhubaneswar, Oct. 13: The saree, that most graceful of Indian women’s wear, has a minister and a senior bureaucrat at war.

Mass education minister Pratap Jena is miffed with department’s secretary Aparajita Sarangi for not heeding his advice on extending the deadline for imposing a dress code on high school teachers.

According to the dress code, women teachers will be required to wear maroon-bordered beige sarees.

The minister wanted the October 2 deadline for the dress code to be extended by another six months as the desired Sambalpuri sarees were not available in the market.

But Sarangi went ahead with implementing the code asking teachers to start attending schools in cotton sarees of the prescribed colours till Sambalpuri sarees from Boyanika, a government-supported cooperative, was in a position to supply the sarees.

The saree circular issued recently by the department, against the minister’s wishes, read: “Sambalpuri sarees for high school teachers with the colour combination prescribed by the government will be made available by various sales centres of Boyonika in the next six months. However, in the meantime, women teachers must immediately go for cotton sarees with prescribed colour combination by purchasing the same from any shop in the state. It is to be noted that it is mandatory to wear Sambalpuri sarees once Boyonika starts supplying the same through its sales centre.”

Sources close to the minister said it was unfair on the part of the department to ask women teachers to first buy cotton sarees from the market and then purchase Sambalpuri sarees from Boyanika after six months. “This cannot be justified as teachers will be spending from their pockets on these sarees,” they said alleging that some businessmen who stood to gain from the sale of sarees had influenced the decision.

The circular raised eyebrows, more so because representatives of two major garment showrooms of the capital met the secretary recently with their samples. The store manager of one of these stores said the sarees with the colour combination approved by the government were available in plenty at his showroom. A spokesperson for the second store said sarees would be available soon to meet the specifications of the government.

The minister, however, is distinctly displeased with the secretary for issuing the circular without consulting him. Sources close to him said he thought it wise to keep quiet as the secretary enjoys substantial clout with the chief minister.

Teachers, too, are unhappy with the attitude of the secretary though no one would like go public with their dissent for obvious reasons. “She is being headstrong and seems to have no concern for us. After all we are going to pay for the sarees,” said a woman teacher on condition of anonymity.

Sarangi, on the other hand, seems determined to push ahead with her agenda. Sources said when she discovered that in certain areas of the state teachers had not adhered to the October 2 deadline, she changed the officer who was entrusted with the responsibility of implementing the dress code.