Scholarship protests begin at TISS Hyd

Protests being held by students at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) Mumbai against scholarship cuts have spilled over to TISS Hyderabad. On Sunday, Students locked the gates, boycotted classes, and refused to allow faculty members to enter the campus until their demands were met. They said that the authorities’ decision would affect a staggering number of OBC students.

The Student Council approached the management with claims that they had been given false assurances in the past. They said that they would not budge until an official confirmation was released. The student movement has been gaining strength through statements of solidarity made by members of various student groups and organisations.

The All India Council for Students’ Struggles and a group students from IIT Bombay have expressed solidarity with the TISS students.

On February 21, 2018, students across the four campuses of the TISS in Mumbai, Tuljapur, Guwahati and Hyderabad called for a strike. This step was taken to protest the withdrawal of aid offered to SC, ST and OBC students, and their being demanded to pay dining hall and hostel charges. Harinder Singh Happy, a member of the Social Protection Cell of TISS Hyderabad said, “It is a highly unacceptable and condemnable move for TISS to seek to make it compulsory for all students registered at the institution, including those who have sought admission on the basis of the Government of India’s Post-Matric Scholarship, to pay hostel, academic and infrastructural fees.”