Photo from advisory by Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Government of India via Twitter (@MORTHRoadSafety), posted on October 3, 2019.

Live in a city in Gujarat? Your state government decided to make helmets optional today. No kidding.

To be specific, helmets will be optional in municipal corporations and within municipality limits.

But here's the fine print: You still need to wear one when you head outside your city -- when you drive on national or state highways, or village roads.

But why give city-dwellers an option?

Gujarat minister RC Faldu says helmets were made mandatory to prevent deaths by road injuries, but many angry complaints by citizens forced the government to rethink.

Shoppers going to buy vegetables, he explained, wonder where they should keep their helmets.

RC Faldu also said commuters didn't usually cover long distances within cities.

You may remember that only months ago, the Gujarat government -- a BJP administration just like the Centre -- made headlines by reducing fine amounts stipulated in the Motor Vehicles Act.

Inputs from Dev Goswami