Contracts of Twenty-Five TISS Faculty Members Terminated

One of the professors says these 25 have been targeted as they were trying to form a teachers’ association.

25 faculty members of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in Mumbai were handed termination letters which stated that their tenure would end on 31 March, according to a report in The Wire.

The terminations were issued on the grounds that the University Grants Commission (UGC) had not extended the terms of the Centres for which these faculty members worked. However, the report also mentions that this is not unusual and, in the past, the UGC has issued extensions after the final date. While The Wire reports that 25 teachers have been issued letters, there has been no official notification given to students on the number of teachers whose contract has been terminated.

In the Director of TISS’ statement accessed by The Quint, it has been specified that the faculty was dismissed because the UGC hasn’t extended the period of these Centres.

Clarifying the issue, S Parasuraman, the Director, said that due to lack of funds from the UGC three Centres – Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policies, Advance Centre for Women’s Studies and the Nodal Centre for Excellence under the Scheme of Human Rights Education are at risk of closure.

One of the professors who was terminated, spoke to The Wire and mentioned that many who received letters, had been attempting to establish a teachers’ association for the past six months. The professor added that this had angered the TISS establishment, and was probably one of the reasons why these 25 were targeted specifically, and that some other faculty members from the same centres had not received these letters.

The centres to which these teachers belong to are:

• Centre of Excellence for Human Rights Education
• School of Law, Rights and Constitutional Governance
• Advance Centre for Women’s Studies
• Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policies

The decision has sparked off a series of reactions on social media from TISS students.

One of the students posted the following on Facebook:

Earlier this month, the Director of TISS, S Parasuraman, had sent a strongly-worded email to students, warning them against dragging TISS into the Delhi University row. This was issued after the TISS Students’ Union had issued a statement against the ABVP, blaming it for the violence in DU.

Read More: Stay Away From DU & JNU Rows: TISS, Mumbai to Protesting Students