TISS terminates contracts of nearly 100 teaching and non-teaching staff
Mumbai: The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has terminated the contracts of nearly 100 teaching and non-teaching staff members, effective June 30, 2024. The termination letters, issued on June 28, stated that the contracts would not be renewed, leaving many long-serving staff members facing unemployment.
This decision has shocked the TISS community, particularly since the Centre converted TISS into a fully publicly funded institute last year.
Professor Manoj Kumar Tiwari, the in-charge Vice-Chancellor of TISS, explained, "These staff were appointed under various projects funded by Tata Trust. Funding for these projects has stopped in the last few months. Considering this, we allowed these teachers to work on a clock-hour basis at the institute. However, we are now unable to secure financial aid, so we decided to terminate their services. We will reappoint them once funding from the Trust resumes."
In response to the mass termination, the Progressive Students Forum (PSF), a students' collective from TISS, expressed their concerns on social media. They highlighted the potential significant shortage of both teaching and non-teaching staff at the institute.
Students have voiced their worries about the negative impact on the student-faculty ratio, citing previous years' National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) data. They fear that the current faculty will be insufficient to meet the needs of the student body and that the termination of these positions might pave the way for politically motivated appointments in the future.
"TISS, a prestigious institute with a nearly 90-year history, has earned its status as a leading social science institution through the contributions of its faculty and staff. Last year, the union government transformed TISS into a fully publicly funded institute. However, this transition has led to delays in student aid and increased financial pressures on students from economically and socially marginalized backgrounds. The latest decision to terminate staff positions further highlights the BJP government’s perceived anti-education and anti-TISS stance," the PSF's statement read.
The PSF has strongly condemned the mass termination and called for immediate action. They demand that the TISS administration revoke the terminations and collaborate with the union government and the University Grants Commission (UGC) to secure funding for these positions. Alternatively, they urge urgent discussions with the Tata Education Trust to reinstate funding and protect these jobs.
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Remove media access restriction for Parliament coverage: Editors Guild to Birla, Dhankhar
New Delhi (PTI): The Editors Guild of India on Monday urged Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar to remove access restrictions on the media for covering proceedings of Parliament.
The Guild, in a letter to Birla, said the practice of restricting the number of media persons, including those holding permanent accreditation, came into force when Covid19 protocols were in place.
"The country has fought the scourge and moved on and we hope limiting access is also done away with," it said in a letter to Birla.
The Guild also expressed concern over the non-reconstitution of the Press Advisory Committee that was first founded in 1929 under the guidance of the president of the Central Legislative Assembly, Vithalbhai Patel.
The Guild urged Dhankhar to restore complete access to all media accredited media persons to the House without the need for them to secure additional access passes, which only adds to the bureaucratic work at a time when the effort is to reduce the load.
