TISS Staff and Students Demand Regularization Amidst Withdrawal of Termination Letters
Temporary Reprieve Deemed Insufficient by TISSTA and PSF as Future Remains Uncertain for Contractual Employees
The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) staff and students have requested regularization of the employees and are refusing to accept the institute's withdrawal of the termination letters.
TISS announced on Sunday that it had rescinded the order terminating the contracts of 55 teaching and 60 non-teaching employees who were paid by the Tata Education Trust (TET).
It has been referred to as a temporary remedy by the Progressive Students Forum (PSF) and the TISS Teachers Association (TISSTA).
The Advanced Centre for Women Studies, which was funded by the University Grants Commission, had four of its contractual faculty members fired by the institute. Regarding these four academic members, however, nothing is said in the decision to withdraw or terminate. According to the TISS media release, these faculty members were working on TET-supported projects and programs.
"For our colleagues, this is a momentary reprieve... Although there is momentary or short-term relief, the future is unclear, according to the TISSTA statement.
According to the statement, the group took issue with the term "project staff" used to describe academic members. It stated that they have been appointed through a proper screening process and are essential members of schools and centers.
According to the TISSTA, the UGC's grants are regularly delayed each year, delaying faculty salaries at the Center for Women Studies. It demanded that the letters of termination be rescinded immediately, arguing that they shouldn't have been sent to them in the first place.
"We express concern regarding the ambiguity surrounding the financial viability and future of the faculty and staff under TET," the statement read.
"We are requesting a comprehensive plan from TISS Administration to ensure regularization and integration of TET faculty and staff, along with the assignment and recruitment of new UGC positions and open backlog positions," the statement continued.
According to the PSF, staff members should have permanent solutions rather than makeshift ones, and pupils should have a suitable number of professors and staff members.
It further stated that the duration of the TET's funding extension for the contractual workers was not made clear in the TISS's media announcement.
The PSF claimed that firing a large number of non-teaching employees, who are the foundation of the TISS, would cause confusion and cause delays in carrying out crucial duties including admissions, testing, and evaluations.
