Students in some schools in Tamil Nadu are being made to wear colour-coded wrist bands to distinguish those belonging to “upper castes” and “lower castes”, the state government said on Tuesday.

“In some schools in Tamil Nadu, students were made to wear colour-coded wrist bands. These which come in shares of red, yellow, green and saffron indicate whether they belong to a ‘lower’ or ‘upper caste’,” said a circular issued by the director of school education, S.Kannappan.

The state school education department has asked its officers to identify and crack down on such schools, the circular added.

The officer said rings and tilak on forehead were also used as caste markers, adding that such practices were supposedly being used for sports team selection, reassembling during class and lunch intervals.

“Allegedly, these practices are enforced by students themselves and supported by influential caste persons and teachers,” the circular said.

It urged senior officials to take appropriate steps to identify such schools and asked them to “...issue suitable instructions to headmasters to prevent such a practice immediately and also take severe action against persons responsible for the discrimination”.

The director said the circular was based on a representation made by officer trainees of the Indian Administration Service (IAS) 2018 batch.