The prestigious National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE) here did away with the Western black gowns at its convocation Saturday, breaking away from the convention for the first time.
The convocation ceremony of the centrally-funded institute was attended by over 400 students who accepted their degrees and diplomas wearing traditional kurta-payjama.
The idea was to do away with "colonial" gowns and replace them with Indian ethnic wear to reflect the country's culture and ethnicity, NITIE chairman Sanjay G Dhande said.
"We wanted to do away with the tradition of black gown at convocation which is being followed from the colonial era," he said.
Established in 1963, NITIE was awarded Dr Arun Arora Best Educational Institute of India award at the World Education Congress in 2017.