CHANDIGARH, July 13 — To embrace Indian tradition and shed colonial-era customs, the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Chandigarh, will hold its 11th convocation on August 8 with graduates and faculty donning traditional Indian attire instead of the customary black robes and caps.
Men graduates will wear cream or off-white kurta-pajama, while women will dress in sarees or suits of the same shade, paired with suitable footwear. All students will be given a stole to signify their academic accomplishment. The new dress code, approved during a recent college council meeting, aligns with a University Grants Commission (UGC) advisory that encourages the use of handloom-based ceremonial robes for official academic events.
“Apparel made from handloom fabric is not only symbolic of our culture but also far more comfortable in the Indian climate,” stated the UGC circular that prompted the change. The shift to ethnic wear has been welcomed by academic institutions across the country, many of which have moved away from British-style convocation robes.
“The dress code has been decided in alignment with Indian tradition,” said Dr. Ashok Kumar Atri, Director of GMCH. He added that this marks a symbolic step toward decolonizing institutional traditions.
This year, students receiving degrees include MBBS batches from 2017 and 2018; MD/MS/DM students from the 2021 batch; MPhil clinical psychology and psychiatric social work batch of 2021; BSc nursing and B Optometry students from 2019; and BSc MLT, X-Ray, anaesthesia, and radiodiagnosis from the 2020 batch.
Faculty members will also follow a designated dress code: men will wear cream or off-white shirts with black trousers, while women will wear sarees or suits in off-white or beige. All faculty will receive maroon silk stoles embroidered with the GMCH logo.
Chief guests and guests of honour will wear navy blue velvet stoles, and other dignitaries on the dais will be adorned with maroon velvet stoles — all carrying the institution’s emblem.
GMCH follows the precedent set by Punjab Engineering College (PEC) in 2022, the first in Chandigarh to adopt a traditional dress code for convocation. The trend was later followed by PGIMER in October 2024 and Panjab University in February 2025.
The change reflects a broader push by the central government to discard British-era academic symbols in favor of Indian cultural identity.
