The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), one of the country’s premier social sciences institutes, has reportedly dismissed 55 faculty members and nearly 60 non-teaching staff across its four campuses without notice, citing a lack of funds from the Tata Education Trust, which financed their salaries. This move affects half of the teaching staff and all non-teaching staff at the Guwahati campus, reported Indian Express.

The dismissed staff, some of whom have been with the institute for over a decade, were all on contractual terms. Among the teaching staff, 20 are from the Mumbai campus, 15 from Hyderabad, 14 from Guwahati, and six from Tuljapur. The remaining faculty on TISS campuses are permanent staff on the University Grants Commission (UGC) payroll.

Faculty members have connected these dismissals to changes in UGC regulations from June last year, which placed TISS under the central government’s purview for appointments, along with other deemed universities receiving over 50 percent funding from the Centre. However, the TISS administration has denied any link between these events.

In an email sent to the dismissed staff, officiating registrar Anil Sutar mentioned that the institute had made several attempts to secure the release of grants from the Tata Education Trust through official correspondence and personal meetings. However, the decision regarding the extension of the grant period had not yet been received. The email added that, in the absence of approval or grants from the Tata Education Trust, their services would end effective June 30.

Acting Vice Chancellor Prof Manoj Tiwari said the institution had written to the Tata Education Trust and formed a committee to pursue the matter. He indicated that if the grants were received, the dismissals could be reversed, but if the situation did not change, the institute would have to find alternative ways to run the courses.

A member of the administration mentioned plans to propose that the same faculty members work on an hourly basis to continue teaching, while also preparing a complete roster of required positions to issue advertisements for regular appointments.

A senior TISS official in Mumbai, as per Indian Express report, noted that all the affected staff were on the payroll of the Tata Education Trust. The official claimed that the government had refused to absorb them and that the Trust had distanced itself since the government takeover was part of its own plan.