PEC students to ditch convocation robes in favour of traditional attire

For the male students, the approved dress code included cotton off-white or white kurtas and churidar pyjamas. The female students, meanwhile, will don cotton off-white or white kurta-churidar or sarees. The dress code also includes the sashes for both males and female students and turban matching the sash colour for Sikh students.

Students graduating from the Punjab Engineering College (PEC) at the upcoming annual convocation will ditch the western graduation robes in favour of traditional Indian attire after the institute senate on Monday approved a proposal for the same.

A senate meeting was held to take certain decisions for the annual convocation ceremony of PEC. (HT File/Representational image)

The proposal, which has been under deliberation for the last few months, was again taken up in the PEC senate’s latest meeting on Monday, with the body approving traditional Indian attire as the official dress code for all students, faculty and dignitaries. The approval was in line with the recommendations of a previously-appointed committee.

Speaking of the decision, PEC director Baldev Setia said, “Almost everyone in the senate accepted the recommended dress code. Everyone liked the idea of moving towards the traditional dress code.”

Approved dress code

For the male students, the approved dress code included cotton off-white or white kurtas and churidar pyjamas. The female students, meanwhile, will don cotton off-white or white kurta-churidar or sarees.

The dress code also includes the sashes for both males and female students and turban matching the sash colour for Sikh students. While PhD students will put on red sashes with contrasting logos, the MTech and BTech will be seen in green and orange sashes.

The faculty will don similar Nehru jackets and sashes; the male members will combine the same with in cream-coloured kurta pyjamas and maroon turbans for Sikhs, while the female faculty will wear cream kurta-salwar or saree.

A senate meeting was held to take certain decisions for the annual convocation ceremony. The date for the convocation ceremony, which will be held after a two-year Covid-induced hiatus, however, is yet to be finalised. It is expected to be held in the first week of October.

The approved proposal will go to PEC’s board of governors (BoG) for final nod. If all goes to plan, PEC will be the first educational institute in the city to have students wear traditional attire during the convocation ceremony.

As many as 668 BTech degrees, 168 and 32 PhD degrees will be awarded during the upcoming convocation of PEC. The PEC senate, however, did not approve the proposal to introduce gold medals for MTech toppers. The matter may be taken up again in future.