The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has announced the withdrawal of termination notices for 55 faculty members and 60 non-teaching staff across its four campuses. This development comes after assurances from the Tata Education Trust (TET) to continue funding the salaries of the affected staff.

TISS, established in 1936 and fully funded by the University Grants Commission (UGC) of the Government of India, issued a statement clarifying the situation. The institute acknowledged that the terminated employees were engaged under TET-funded programs on a contractual basis. Despite initial discontinuation letters due to funding issues, ongoing discussions with TET have led to a commitment to release the necessary funds.

The official statement from TISS reads: “Ongoing discussions with the Tata Education Trust have provided assurance that resources will be made available to TISS to resolve this issue. TET has committed to releasing funds for the salaries of TET project/programme faculty and non-teaching staff.”

The termination letter, dated June 28, 2024, has been rescinded. The affected staff members have been requested to continue their work, with salaries to be disbursed as soon as the TET support grant is received.

Earlier reports indicated that TISS had dismissed the staff without notice due to a lack of funds from TET. This move had impacted half of the teaching staff and all non-teaching staff at the Guwahati campus. The dismissed staff, many of whom had been with the institute for over a decade, included 20 from the Mumbai campus, 15 from Hyderabad, 14 from Guwahati, and six from Tuljapur. The remaining faculty at TISS campuses are permanent staff on the UGC payroll.

Faculty members had linked the dismissals to changes in UGC regulations from June last year, which placed TISS under the central government’s purview for appointments. However, the TISS administration denied any connection between these events.

Acting Vice Chancellor Prof. Manoj Tiwari had indicated that the institution had been in discussions with TET and had formed a committee to address the funding issue. He had noted that if grants were received, the dismissals could be reversed. In the absence of funding, the institute would have to find alternative ways to run its courses.

A senior TISS official had highlighted that all the affected staff were on TET’s payroll and that the government had refused to absorb them. The official claimed that the Trust had distanced itself following the government takeover.