OBC STUDENTS SUFFER

MUMBAI: Students belonging to Other Backward Classes (OBC), Scheduled Castes (SC) and Normandic Tribes (NT) backgrounds are facing financial difficulties in Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). They have been on a month long protest, due to the withdrawal of Government of India - Post Matric Scholarship (GOI-PMS).

Deepali Wighe, a Masters in Philosophy (M PHIL) student in TISS is one of the student from NT/DT background to go through hardships due to the withdrawal of scholarships. "I started with my M Phill in the year 2016-17, during the time of admissions I was informed by the administration that I will be given the Scholarship but for that I will have to pay the 1st installment that was rs 60,000 at that time. But I was never given the scholarship even after being promised, and was informed later after sometime that the scholarships are enough longer available," said Deepali. She added that "Coming from a marginalised background and being a first gen girl child is not easy and on top of that the insensitivity of the TISS Institute towards students issues makes it even more difficult for students like me," she added.

Deepali stated that she was a student of TISS in the year 2013 when she was perusing her undergraduate degree and back then they were given scholarships, that being the reason she returned to TISS in the year 2016 for her further studies after she took a break to support her family financially. But due to the withdrawal of the (GOI-PMS) Scholarships in the year 2015, paying the high fees of the Institute is not less than a struggle. Due to this financial crunch a few students have already left the Institution, as they cannot afford the high fees.