NHRC notice to Tamil Nadu for asking students to wear wrist band based on their caste

Chennai: The National Human Rights Commission has issued notice to the Tamil Nadu government over a media report on students of a district being asked to wear coloured ribbons and wrist bands based on their caste.

"The Commission has taken suo motu cognizance of a media report that in schools of Tirunelveli district students were asked to wear coloured ribbons and wrist bands indicating their caste", NHRC said in a release.

"The Commission has observed that the content of the press report, if true, raises a serious issue of human rights. Accordingly, it has issued notices to Social Welfare Department, Principal Secretary and Tirunelveli District Collector calling for a factual report within two weeks," it said.

The media report said the district administration while investigating clashes between student groups found that wrist bands were often used to target students on the basis of caste.

"There was a ban by the District Collector over such wrist bands in schools. There was no written order but only a direction was issued during a meeting of the Education Department," it said.