This village panchayat will file an FIR if you are seen roaming in shorts

The Gujrani village panchayat in Haryana's Bhiwani district decided to ban wearing half pants or shorts after it was observed that 'many inappropriately dressed youths were roaming in the village'

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In a bizarre development from Haryana, the village panchayat of Gujrani in Bhiwani district has enforced a ban on youths wearing half pants or shorts in public spaces or when visiting homes, as reported by Dainik Bhaskar. If a youth is found violating this rule, an FIR will be filed against them, stated the village headman.

The decision comes after it was observed that many youths were casually roaming the village in attire deemed ‘inappropriate’, according to Dainik Bhaskar.

The father-in-law of the Sarpanch, Suresh Kumar – who reportedly looks after the work on behalf of Sarpanch Renu – explained that he felt deeply embarrassed when people came to his house wearing half pants or shorts. Kumar mentioned that in their culture, women and girls should be respected, and such attire was not appropriate. Therefore, he stated that the decision was necessary to uphold the village’s values and maintain decorum, the newspaper reported.

He further said that if someone is found violating the panchayat’s rule for the first time, their parents will be informed and if they still violate the rules, the panchayat would file an FIR.

The report claimed that after the panchayat’s rule, 60 per cent of youths have stopped wearing shorts.

Gujrani village has currently 7,000 residents and 1,250 homes. The decision has been widely discussed in neighbouring villages, with many supporting the move to maintain cultural and traditional values, the report claimed.

Haryana’s experiments with enforcing dress codes

In February last year, the Haryana government, under the leadership of then BJP Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, implemented a dress code for staff in government hospitals. This dress code prohibited jeans, T-shirts, and palazzos for both male and female hospital staff.

Furthermore, male doctors were required to keep their hair above collar length, while female doctors were restricted from wearing make-up or heavy jewellery while on duty. The dress code also forbade women doctors from having long nails.

Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij defended the new dress code stating that it was often challenging to differentiate between doctors and patients in government hospitals, hence the necessity for implementing the dress code for staff members.