After receiving funds from the Tata Education Trust (TET), the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) announced an extension of contracts of 115 teaching and non-teaching contractual employees till March 31, 2025. The contracts of the 50 teaching and 65 non-teaching staffers were set to end on December 31.
“If more funds are received (from TET), or the process for funds are streamlined, the contract will further be extended,” TISS’s acting Vice-Chancellor (VC) Manoj Tiwari told the Free Press Journal. “We are working on a long-term solution,” he added.
On June 28 this year, TISS had announced the termination of contracts for 55 faculty members and 60 non-teaching staff across its four campuses.
The termination letters indicated that their contracts would not be renewed, with their services officially concluding on June 30.
However, following concerns raised by students and staff highlighting that many of the affected teachers were involved in project work and teaching across various courses, TET agreed to extend funding for the 115 staff members until December 31.
With the deadline nearing, the Progressive Students Forum (PSF), a student organisation at TISS, sought clarity regarding staff employment by submitting a letter to the administration on November 30.
In response, TISS confirmed that the contracts for TET staff would be extended until the end of March 2025.
“As we welcome this temporary extension, we believe a permanent solution is extremely necessary and urge the TISS administration to devise a long-term plan for the same,” the PSF said in a statement after the contracts of the contractual employees were extended.
