PSF Condemns Sudden Termination of 100 Teaching, Non-Teaching TISS Staff

New Delhi: The Progressive Students Forum (PSF) has condemned the sudden termination of about 100 teaching and non-teaching staff of TISS (Tata Institute of Social Sciences), which is now a fully public funded institute.

In a statement, PSF said it was shocked that “after repeatedly targeting its students and curbing the campus democracy, the present TISS administration, under the BJP-led union government, has unleashed an attack on its employees as well.”

It said on June 28, the TISS administration sent termination letters to nearly 100 teaching and non-teaching staff, informing them that their contracts would not be renewed and service ends on June 30, 2024.

“Even though the exact numbers are not clear, this shocking news comes just 48 hours before nearly a hundred institute staff members which were previously funded by the Tata Education Trust will become unemployed after years of service at TISS. It is completely a failure of the current leadership of TISS administration in running the institute and apathy of the BJP-led union government,” the statement read.

It demanded that the TISS administration immediately revoke the mass termination and make necessary arrangements with the Union government and the University Grants Commission to take responsibility for those previously employed under the Tata Education Trust.

The TISS VC-in-charge, Manoj Kumar Tiwari, told the Hindustan Times that the terminated staff were appointed under various projects under the funding of Tata Trust. The fundings for these projects have stopped in the last few months. …We will reappoint them once funding from the Trust resumes.”

PSF also demanded that an urgent meeting be held with the top management of the Tata Trust to reinstate funding so the jobs are protected.

Read the full statement below:

*Strongly Condemn the Mass Termination of around 100 Teaching and Non-Teaching Staff at TISS under the BJP-led Union Government*

*PSF stands in solidarity with the teachers and staff at TISS* 

Statement issued by Progressive Students' Forum, Date: 29 June 2024

After repeatedly targeting its students and curbing the campus democracy, the present TISS administration, under the BJP-led union government, has unleashed an attack on its employees as well. Recently, it has been learnt that on 28th June 2024 TISS administration sent termination letters to nearly 100 teaching and non-teaching staff at the Institute, informing them that their contracts will not be renewed and service ends on 30th June 2024. Even though the exact numbers are not clear, this shocking news comes just 48 hours before nearly a hundred institute staff members which were previously funded by the Tata Education Trust will become unemployed after years of service at TISS. It is completely a failure of the current leadership of TISS administration in running the institute and apathy of the BJP-led union government. 

THE MASS TERMINATION IS SET TO CREATE A SCARCITY OF TEACHING AND NON-TEACHING STAFF. As students, we express our concern about this decision. The previous years' NIRF data shows that the student-faculty ratio is being impacted negatively. This means that the currently employed faculty is insufficient in terms of the number of students admitted to TISS each year. While the termination of a hundred such positions will directly impact the futures of the students who are enrolling in the Institute, it might also allow for politically motivated appointments in the near future. 

TISS is a premier institute that has existed for nearly 90 years, and through the contribution of its faculty and staff, it has achieved a distinct status as a social science institute. Last year, the BJP-led union government took over TISS, making it a fully 'public-funded institute'. The result has been that students are facing delays in receiving student aid and are being threatened in the name of fee payment. While becoming a public institute should have relieved the pressure from students coming from economically and socially marginalised backgrounds, the central government takeover has resulted in added monetary pressures. The latest move of robbing a hundred teaching and non-teaching staff at the institute of their jobs highlights the BJP government's anti-education and anti-TISS stance.  

The BJP-led central government and the current TISS administration are directly responsible for taking away the livelihoods of nearly a hundred employees and putting the future of its students also at risk. The recent blunders made by the Ministry of Education in conducting nationwide entrance examinations only add to the incompetence of the central government. 

At such a time, we demand the TISS administration to immediately revoke the mass termination and make necessary arrangements with the union government and the UGC to take responsibility for those previously employed under the Tata Education Trust. ALTERNATIVELY, THEY MUST HOLD URGENT DISCUSSIONS WITH THE TOP MANAGEMENT OF THE TATA EDUCATION TRUST TO REINSTATE FUNDING FOR THESE POSITIONS SO THAT ALL JOBS ARE PROTECTED.

PSF-TISS strongly condemns the mass termination of nearly 100 teaching and non-teaching staff by the TISS administration and the BJP-led union government. We stand in solidarity with all those employees who are subjected to this humiliating treatment by the current leadership of the TISS administration under the BJP government. TISS must immediately revoke the mass termination. We, the PROGRESSIVE STUDENTS' FORUM, as responsible students unconditionally stands in solidarity with our teachers and staff in their hard times. The people united shall never be defeated.

*Progressive Students' Forum-TISS*