Moral Policing: Hindu Rao Medical College faces backlash for its dress code for female MBBS students

New Delhi: The authorities at NDMC medical college and Hindu Rao Hospital are facing severe backlash from its MBBS students for issuing a 'moral policing' order.

In a recently issued stringent dress code, the CMO Academics at NDMC medical college and Hindu Rao Hospital has directed all the female MBBS students staying in the campus hostel to wear "decent" clothes while warning of severe punishment and expulsion from the hostel for not following the rules. This order has triggered major resentment in the medical college campus.

The MBBS students have started opposing the newly issued order confused over the fact that what the decent clothes will be, it has not been mentioned in the notice. Some students have alleged that this notice reflects the 'anti-women' mentality of the medical college administration.

In the notice issued on last week, it is specifically written for the female MBBS students that they have to wear decent clothes in the hostel and medical college campus as it comes inside the residence of the hospital staff. It has also been written that the girls can be evicted from the hostel for any kind of risky behaviour.

"MBBS girls will maintain the dress decorum in hostel and medical college campus as it is inside the residential complex of hospital employees. Any kind of high-risk behaviour on the part of MBBS students who are living in the hostels will lead to the issue of warning and expulsion from hostels."

Condemning this order, the MBBS students have started a signature campaign against this notice, reports Live Hindustan. A student told on the condition of anonymity said, "We should be told how to have the right clothes. The hostel here has about 250 students, of which about 50 per cent are girls."

Students say that instead of telling us how to dress in our campus, the medical college administration should make adequate arrangements for our security. They are also demanding an immediate withdrawal of the dress code.

At the same time, Dr Rahul Chaudhary, former president of the resident doctors association of the hospital, recently tweeted implying that this order reflects the patriarchal thinking of the hospital administration.

Meanwhile, administrative officials refrained from reacting to this notice and postponed matters.

Talking to TNIE, a student informed that there have been a few incidents of students going missing from the hostel, as well as cases of misbehaviour with them.

"This is the first such notice issued by the college administration. We still don't have a clear understanding of the dress code. However, it's unfortunate that rules are only being made for girls. The students' union has yet to decide on whether to launch protests against this diktat," the student said.

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