Govt staff can wear dhoti to office

According to the revised order, “Government servants are required to wear neat, clean, formal attire that is appropriate to the work place setting, like saree or salwar kameez or churidhar with dupatta in the case of female government servants and shirts with formal pants or veshti (dhoti) reflecting Tamil culture or any Indian traditional dress, in case of male government servants.”

The revision came after the earlier order was criticised for not including dhoti in the list of approved dress for male government staff. Though the earlier order did not outrightly ban dhoti or other traditional attire, they did not appear in the list of approved dress.

In response to that, several government officials and associations had raised the question whether dhoti, which is the traditional attire of the state, was banned.

However, the attire prescribed for government servants appearing in the court remains the same as listed in the previous order.