Chaitali Samanta. Picture by Jahangir Badsa

Tamluk, June 28: A geography teacher of a government-aided girls’ school in East Midnapore has been asked by the authorities to wear sari and not come in salwar kameez, a day after two teachers in Nadia protested a similar diktat.

Chaitali Samanta, 25, had got the job in Shahid Matangini Bhavan Balika Vidyalaya in Alinan village, 10km from Tamluk, in July last year. She takes a train to Mecheda, from where she goes to Kaktia in a bus. From Kaktia, she takes a cycle van to the school.

Chaitali alleged “mental torture” by the school authorities after she refused to follow the dress code.

“For the first few months, I used to wear sari to school. But I found it difficult to travel in crowded trains in a sari. I was also not comfortable wearing one and my mother used to help me wear it. I fell down thrice on the platform. So I switched to salwar-kameez from January. But the authorities have asked me not to wear salwar kameez to school,” she said.

Chaitali lodged a complaint with the district inspector of schools (secondary), Subodh Chatterjee, last week.

“I had summoned school managing committee secretary Rajesh Hajra and headmistress Mallika Maity and told them that they could not issue such a diktat because no law prevents a teacher from wearing salwar-kameez to school. They claimed they had only requested her and not created any pressure,” Chatterjee said.

“I warned the secretary and the headmistress that if any pressure is created on the teacher to wear a sari, action will be taken against the authorities,” he added. Chaitali said when she had told Maity about her decision to wear salwar-kameez, she had not objected.

Hajra, who is also a local Trinamul youth leader, said that at a meeting in May, guardians and teachers had “objected” to Chaitali wearing the dress. “Why can’t one teacher wear sari when all her 11 colleagues come to school in that apparel?” Hajra said.

Chaitali, however, alleged the headmistress had called her to her office. “The secretary was also present. They asked me not to wear salwar kameez from June 1.”

Chaitali said the “mental torture” started from June 1. “No cycle van agreed to take me to school. I had to walk 3km. While returning home, the same thing happened. Local youths started hurling abuses at me. It is a conspiracy by the school authorities. I am being humiliated because I did not yield to their pressure,” she said.

Hajra said: “The children of many of the van operators study in our school. So if they refuse to ferry her, what can I do?”

Today, Class X students boycotted Chaitali’s class demanding that she wear a sari. “Our parents have told us to boycott Chaitali madam’s classes if she does not wear a sari in school,” a student said.