Agartala:
A day after Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) requested all its employees to wear traditional dresses once a week, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the district council, sharply reacted to this terming the order as a “show off”.
Speaking to the press, BJP’s member of district council (MDC) and leader of the opposition in the council, Hangsha Kumar Tripura said, “The order which the TTAADC administration has issued is a show off. We will not support it as wearing a dress is personal liberty. There are people from different communities; even non-tribal staff, they have to keep them in kind as well.”
He, however, said that if the administration is serious about promoting the traditional values of the indigenous people of the state, traditional dresses should be made compulsory every day.
Earlier on April 12, the order which was undersigned by the additional Chief Executive Officer, Subal Debbarma, to the TTAADC reads, “It is for the general information of all employees of TTAADC, the Executive Committee of Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council is pleased to introduce wearing of Indigenous Traditional Dress of Tripura once a week i e. on Monday, including Hon’ble Chairman, CEM, Dy. CEM, EMs and MDCs. In view of the above, all employees of TTAADC are requested to comply (sic).”
There are a total of 6,000 to 7,000 employees serving in various positions of the tribal council among which around 15 to 20 per cent are from the non-tribal communities.