New Delhi: The Union Bank of India’s (UBI) decision to impose a Navratri dress code on all of its employees through an October 1 circular was met with considerable backlash from the employees, social media users and even members of parliament, forcing the public sector bank to withdraw the direction, NDTV reported.The ‘Navratri Celebration and Dress Code’ circular was issued by A.R. Raghavendra, the general manager of the public sector bank’s digitisation department at its central office in Mumbai. The colourful circular mandated “all staff and vendor partners working on-site” to adhere to a day-wise colour code for all the days of Navratri (October 7-14), that a daily “group photo” will be taken and even imposed a Rs 200 fine to ensure compliance.In a bizarre development, public sector lender, Union Bank of India (@UnionBankTweets) has mandated a section of its staffers compulsorily adhere to a special ‘Navratri’ dress code or be ready to cough out fines. pic.twitter.com/X21C9r2HM0— IANS Tweets (@ians_india) October 10, 2021UThe circular went on to mention that the “base colour” of check shirts would be considered and that there would be a “chaat party” at lunchtime on October 14 for which “indoor games” have been planned. Employees were requested to keep their schedules free and not bring their own lunch.The All India Union Bank Employees Federation (AIUBEF) took strong objection to the directives and wrote to Rajkiran Rai G., CEO and managing director of UBI, calling Raghavendra’s actions “dictatorial” and that the orders constitute an “infringement of human rights and [the] secular values of this great country,” the Deccan Herald reported.Jagannath Chakraborty, general secretary of the AIUBEF averred that the celebration of a festival should be a “voluntary phenomenon” and took particular exception to Raghavendra’s imposition of a fine for non-compliance. Chakraborty went on to question Raghavendra’s authority in issuing the circular, noting that he did not obtain the permission of the top management and demanded “appropriate action for using [the] bank’s logo… to accomplish his personal desire by abusing official power.”“This has never happened in the 100 years’ history of the Bank. He should immediately withdraw the circular,” Chakraborty said.Even S. Venkatesan, CPI-M MP from Madurai, opposed the circular and wrote to the UBI calling the actions “highly atrocious”.