Zhemgang Dzongkhag Tshogdu’s controversial decision to make everyone in the dzongkhag wear national dress from 9am and 5pm is yet to take off. This is evident from the fact that people still dress in pants and shirts.
The dress code rule was supposed to have come into effect on February 21.
“We are all supposed to wear gho and kira but as of now no one applies or follows the rule,” Dawa, a resident said.
Some are still resisting the decision. “It’s a hot place and in rural villages, it does not make sense to dress in gho and kira all the time,” Karma Dukpa from Berti in Trong Gewog said.
“I think they should first implement the dress code in the towns and then slowly bring it to the villages.”
Kado, another Zhemgang resident, said he wears national dress whenever he goes out, but a lot of other people are not doing it and this has left him b
affled.
“We were told that we will have to dress in gho and kira beginning December 17 and I have been wearing gho during all my trips to the market.”
Thromde Thuemi Tashi Choden said they are waiting for an office order from the dzongkhag administration to implement the rule. “It will come into effect soon,” she added.
The initial decision was to make it mandatory for all in the dzongkhag to wear national dress during office hours, but some changes were made later to relax the rule a bit.
For instance, the dress code will not apply to those working in the field, including construction sites and farms and emergency sites.
It was also decided that technical staff would be allowed to wear field dresses of their respective offices.
Zhemgang DT justified that its decision is in keeping in the Local Government (LG) Act and the book on etiquette to protect and preserve national identity, culture and tradition.
The issue ignited debate and discussions with many taking to the social media, some to voice their support and others to criticise it.
Whether the decision makes sense or not certainly remains debatable. In terms of implementation, enforcing the rule and ensuring its success is two different things.
At this stage, it may be a bit too early to say whether the resolution can be implemented successfully or not.
What can be said for sure, at least at this point, is that it’s been a slow start to implementation after all the vigour with which the resolution was adopted by the DT.
