Tirath Singh Rawat, who is the newly appointed Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, made a controversial statement at a ‘substance abuse’ workshop on Tuesday. Rawat said that, “Ripped jeans paves the way for societal breakdown, it is a bad example parents set for their children which also leads to substance abuse,” Times of India reported. 

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He carried on saying that, “showing off bare knees, wearing ripped jeans and looking like rich kids are the values given to them.” The CM questioned this new culture by saying, where that was coming from if not from home, adding that school and teachers don’t teach it.

“Where am I taking my son in tattered jeans,” he said adding that “girls are no less.”

“We have all engrossed ourselves in the mad race of westernisation, on the contrary, the western world is following us covering their bodies, doing yoga, but we are running towards nudity,” he said in the inaugural session of the two-day workshop.

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As per the media reports, Rawat shared an incidence of his visit to an NGO, where the woman running the organisation wore ripped jeans, “If woman of this kind, go out to meet people and help them solve their problems, what kind of message are we giving to our society and kids?” He added that “a child who is taught the right culture at home, whatever he does will not fail in life.”

The CM also added that the kids should be taught in Hindi-medium institutions. He said that its a misconception that only English-medium students become successful, “I have seen many students from Hindi-medium institutions, mainly from UP, Delhi and Uttarakhand who have become IAS officers and top bureaucrats. Go by Hindi medium, give good values and good knowledge,” he added. 

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Coming back to substance abuse, he said that the parents have been setting wrong examples for the kids, “In the house, when guests come, parents ask the child to take out liquor from cabinets for them, what kind of an environment is this for a child? What are we teaching them? What character will they develop?” as per the reports from TOI.