How wearing lipstick turned a woman duffedar's job nightmarish
S B Madhavi, the first woman duffedar in the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), has found herself at the centre of a controversy after she was transferred from the mayor's office to the far-off Manali zone.
At 50, Madhavi, who had been ceremonially engaged to accompany Chennai mayor R Priya, claims she was shunted out for wearing lipstick, disobeying a direct order not to do so, TOI has reported.
The situation escalated after Madhavi received a memo on August 6 from the mayor's personal assistant, Siva Sankar, citing “dereliction of duty, not coming to work during working hours, and disobeying orders of seniors” as reasons for her transfer. In her response, Madhavi questioned the accusations and specifically addressed the issue of her lipstick.
«You told me not to wear lipstick. I applied it, disobeying your orders. If this is a crime, show me the government order (GO) which prohibits me from wearing lipstick,» Madhavi wrote in her reply. Just minutes after sending her response, Madhavi was transferred from her role at the mayor's office to the Manali zone, leaving her previous post vacant.
In her defence, Madhavi also pointed out that she had been late to work by just 30 minutes on the day in question due to a leg injury, reaching the office at 10:30 AM. She refuted the claim of dereliction of duty, noting that the only order she had 'disobeyed' was regarding her lipstick. She also highlighted other restrictions placed on her, including instructions not to interact with colleagues from different departments at
