BENGALURU: No more western-style gowns at the convocation of the Belagavi-headquartered Visvesaraya Technological University (VTU). Instead, the students will be seen in white khadi.With the University Grants Commission (UGC) issuing a circular to all the universities and colleges across India stating that robes need to be replaced with khadi, VTU is set to become the first university in the state to implement it at its convocation scheduled for February 8.
In a December 24 circular, the university registrar said all the candidates participating or receiving degrees in person are required to follow the dress code. According to the circular, girls should wear white saree or white salwar kameez with dupatta made of handloom fabric and boys full-sleeved white shirt and white pants made of handloom fabric. “You are hereby requested to bring this circular to the notice of all the candidates of your college and inform them to follow the guidelines without fail,” the circular said.
However, this has received a mixed response from the students. Some of them said the new attire is alright but keeping it white is probably a bad idea. “We could have designed our own convocation dress instead. White and white is boring and the boys with white pants made of handloom fabric look less attractive,” said Sangamesh Ram, a student of a college in Belagavi.
The students also opined that there was something “special” about the western style robes. “Irrespective of what material was used, the robe and the graduation cap would actually stand out and look very special. The new attire will not give us the feeling that we are celebrating our graduation”, said Chaitra Menasinakayi, another student.
After VTU, all universities in the state including Bangalore University will follow the trend. However, the colour combination of the attire is left to the universities, said an official.Prof K R Venugopal, Vice-Chancellor of Bangalore University had appreciated the move. “We will be helping several khadi manufacturing units. The gowns are western and we must showcase and promote our material,” he had said.