TISS Terminates 115 Employees Over Tata Trust Funding Issues: Report

The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has reportedly dismissed 115 staff members without notice across four of its campuses, according to a report by The Indian Express.

TISS attributed the dismissals to a lack of grants from the Tata Education Trust. The affected staff included 55 faculty members and approximately 60 non-teaching staff. The dismissals occurred on Friday, with the Mumbai campus being the hardest hit. Among the teaching staff, 20 were from Mumbai, 15 from Hyderabad, 14 from Guwahati, and six from Tuljapur.

Interestingly, a day after the mass dismissals on June 29, TISS posted a new advertisement seeking an Associate Professor on contract for the School of Habitat Studies. The application deadline for this position is July 9, 2024.

Additionally, a few days before the dismissals, TISS advertised a vacancy for guest faculty on a temporary basis for the Tuljapur campus, which was also affected by the dismissals.

According to the report, those dismissed had been working at the institute for over a decade and were all on contractual terms. An email from the office of the acting registrar, Anil Sutar, informed the dismissed staff that TISS had made every effort to secure grant funds from the Tata Education Trust for salaries.

The email stated, "Despite numerous official correspondences and personal meetings with the Tata Education Trust, a decision regarding the extension of the grant period is still pending," adding that services would end on June 30 if the grant approval was not received.

Published on: Sunday, June 30, 2024, 01:05 PM IST