New Delhi: In a memorandum, the Tripura government advised bureaucrats to avoid jeans, denim wear and sunglasses while on official duty, especially during high-level meetings. This move by the BJP-IPFT government has come under criticism from the opposition parties, which called it “feudal” and “reminiscent of British rule”.According to the Indian Express, the memorandum was issued on August 20 by Sushil Kumar, the principal secretary for revenue, education and information, and cultural affairs.“District Magistrates, ADMs being the district head need to ensure that in/at the state level official meeting which are chaired by the Honorable Chief Minister, Deputy CM, Ministers, Chief Secretary etc. or other high-level official meetings due regards needs to be given to the dress code,” the memorandum said.Under the ‘dress code’, “certain casual attire like jeans and cargos pants should be avoided,” Kumar stated. He also asked officials not to read or send messages on their mobile phones during meetings as it is “a mark of disrespect”.The principal secretary invoked former chief minister Manik Sarkar’s advice to officers to keep their hands off their pockets. District Magistrates were asked to make sure that members of their teams show “due decorum” and followed “code of conduct” while attending official functions or meetings.According to the Indian Express, officer on special duty to chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb, Sanjay Mishra was not aware of any such memorandum. “I am not aware of such instructions. I shall look into it,” he said.The diktat was criticised by Tripura Pradesh Congress vice president, Tapas Dey, who stated it was evident of “feudal mindset” of the state’s BJP-IPFT government.CPM spokesperson Goutam Das said the memo was against the democratic nature of the country. “This is not a colonial regime anymore. How can they give orders on what to wear and what to avoid in the name of dress codes? This is most condemnable,” Das said.In July this year, the Supreme Court reprimanded a Rajasthan IAS officer for not wearing “proper dress”, and asked him to wear “sober and decent” dress while appearing in court. The officer had worn a shirt and trouser while in court. Justices J. Chalameswar and Sanjay Kishan Kaul told him, “Irrespective of whether there are rules or no rules, bureaucrats are always expected to wear sober and decent dress, while appearing in court. It does not matter whether there are administrative instructions or not, but there should be a certain level of decency.”“Rules” for dress codeThere is no “dress code” governing the way bureaucrats dress, although during training, officers are told to dress “appropriately”. However, in August 2017, the Himachal Pradesh government set in place certain rules for bureaucrats, prescribing a dress code while attending court. This came soon after the high court had pulled up an officer for attending court dressed in a shirt and denims.Two Chhattisgarh district collectors were chided by the state government for “dress code violation” when they received Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Bastar Collector Amit Kataria wore sunglasses and blue shirt, while Dantewada Collector K.C. Devsenapati had worn a white shirt and trousers. The decision by the state government to pull the two officers was also criticised by the opposition parties then. Again, though no clear rules exist directing what type of clothing officers are supposed to wear while receiving the prime minister, it is customary to wear a bandhgala.