Never bothered by students clothing practices at JNU, says UGC chairman M Jagadesh Kumar

Amid the hijab row in Karnataka, newly appointed chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC), M Jagadesh Kumar, said he has never been bothered by “students’ clothing practices”, either as the Vice-Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) or as a professor at IIT-Delhi.

“I do not know the background of the incident that took place (in Karnataka). However, if we look at my university (JNU), we do not have any such restrictions on what clothes they wear. I can only talk about my institution and the



practices here,” he said.

“I think clothes have more to do with weather conditions and (one’s) comfort level… (For instance) we have adapted (our) clothing (and) that is more suitable to Delhi weather. (At JNU) we have not done anything new to clothing; it is a societal practice that is going on and we have nothing to say about our students’ clothing practices,” he said.

“(As) for me, I am very flexible towards the clothing that my students have in my classrooms in IIT,” he said.