Pune, July 4: The Maeer's MIT School in Pune stoked a controversy by issuing a contentious diktat to the pupils. The institution has restricted the number of times the children could go to the toilet and have ordered the girl students to wear innerwears of a specific colour.

Parents of the aggrieved children launched a protest outside the school campus, asking the management to roll-back the controversial diktat. They have also threatened to take legal action if the school does not retract the order.

One of the parents, while speaking to news agency ANI, said the teachers have sent a note in the students' diaries seeking their signature of approval.

The school, however, has defended the order calling it in the interest of the students. "The intention to give such specific directives in the school diary was very pure.We had some experiences in the past which made us take this decision. We didn't have any hidden agenda," said Dr. Suchitra Karad Nagare, Executive director of MIT Group of Institute.

Surveys have shown the lack of toilet facilities cause massive inconvenience to female students to continue with their academic activities.  According to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), 2013, the lack of toilets is the reason behind massive drop-out rates among the girl students in rural India.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 04, 2018 09:27 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).