Lucknow district magistrate's order unjust, says Mayawati

A ‘dress code’ imposed for schoolchildren by Lucknow district magistrate (DM) Anil Sagar has left UP chief minister Mayawati fuming. Mayawati insists that the DM immediately withdraw the order.

Sagar had on Saturday passed orders that students wearing uniforms should be prohibited in public places, including restaurants/ hotels, malls, cinema halls and parks. Students violating the order would be dealt with severely, he said.

While parents and school managements welcomed the move, Mayawati, in a statement released here on Sunday, said the order was “impractical”.

Sagar had issued the orders after a recent case in which a student of a management institute had jumped to death from the fourth floor of a mall here.

Another student, allegedly involved in a sex racket, had also committed suicide recently by jumping off a building.

Sources said, Mayawati felt that the order was an infringement on the movement of students who may have genuine reasons to visit such public places in uniform immediately after school.

Parents and school authorities are disappointed with Mayawati’s decision. “The DM has taken the step in the interest of students. The order should stay,” said Veena Sharma, a student’s mother.

“We have been getting complaints of students gallivanting after school or even during school hours… such steps are necessary to ensure discipline,” said a school proprietor insisting on anonymity.