In what came as temporary relief, two of the three centres of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, that faced closure last year, have received Universities Grants Commission (UGC) extension till March 2019. The UGC had intimated the institute in September last year that the two centres would be granted extension but an official letter to the effect was received early this week. A faculty member attached to one of the two centres said: “I received a letter confirming the extension of my tenure till March 2019. It puts an end to the speculation over our future for the time being.”
Currently, TISS is running all three centres at its own expense, as it awaits funds from the UGC. The two centres — Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policies and Advance Centre for Women’s Studies — have got extension till March 2019. But the apex body did not grant extension to the Centre of Excellence for Human Rights Education after September 2017.
A senior TISS official said currently, the institute is running all three centres. The UGC has not released funds for the centres that it has granted extensions to. “For the two centres that got approval, we are following up for release of funds. The third centre is being run by the institute. Expenses of all three centres is being borne by the institute,” said the official who did not wish to be identified.
The centres were funded under the schemes of the UGC’s 12th Five Year Plan. In March last year, after the plan period expired, the centres faced closure and around 20 faculty members were terminated. Following an uproar among students and teachers, an extension was granted to the centres and all teachers, except one, were reinstated.
Meanwhile, a financial crunch has hit TISS that is likely to affect the centres. The institute has claimed it has a deficit of Rs 20 crore. “Moreover, the GoI PMS scholarships assured to the protesting students will cost the institute an additional Rs 12 crore,” said an official adding that TISS administration is now knocking on the doors of philanthropists and CSR wings of corporates.