Chennai: Following School Education Minister K A Sengottaiyan’s statement that he was not notified about a circular asking students not to wear wristbands that identify their caste, BJP leader H Raja today asked the Minister to initiate departmental action against the official who issued the circular.
Raja was the first one to oppose the circular. “Preventing students from displaying their ‘religious’ symbols is an anti-Hindu move,” he had said on the issue.
When the issue was raised with Sengottaiyan yesterday, he said the circular was issued without his knowledge and asked all the education officials not to implement it. He also warned of severe action against schools making students wear wrist bands that identify their caste.
The Minister said it was the Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Department that first forwarded the circular to the School Education Department.
The circular was issued on the basis of a representation lodged by 180 trainee IAS officers, who submitted that some schools in Tamilnadu, made students to wear colour coded wrist bands.
These wristbands, which come in shades of red, yellow, green and saffron indicate whether they belong to a ‘lower caste’ or ‘upper caste’ in addition to this, rings and forehead tilak on the head were used as a caste marker.