The Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS) has withdrawn the sudden dismissal of its staff, over 100 contractual staff members, including teaching and non-teaching appointed under programmes funded by the Tata Education Trust (TET) citing non-release of funds.
On Friday, the TISS dismissed as many as 55 teachers and close to 60 non-teaching staff members across its four campuses, without any notice.
All these employees were appointed to positions under projects funded by the Tata Education Trust.
AdvertisementAccording to the administration, it had approached the Tata Education Trust multiple times in the past six months.
The letter also stated, “in the event of non-receipt of approval/grant from Tata Education Trust”, their services would come to an end with effect from June 30.
The Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS) has withdrawn the sudden dismissal of its staff, over 100 contractual staff members, including teaching and non-teaching appointed under programmes funded by the Tata Education Trust (TET) citing non-release of funds. The move came after the trust assured resources will be made available to the TISS.
A statement issued by the institute on Sunday signed, by the Registrar of the TISS, states, “TET has committed to releasing funds for the salaries of TET project/programme faculty and non-teaching staff.”
The institute’s administration confirmed that a funding of a total of Rs 4.79 crore has been sanctioned by the Tata Education Trust.
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Informing that the letter dated June 28, addressed to all concerned TET Programme faculty and non-teaching staff, is withdrawn with immediate effect, it adds, “They are requested to continue their work, and salaries will be released as soon as the TET Support Grant is received by the institute.”
According to the TISS administration, the issue is resolved for now after the Tata Education Trust has assured release of funds. “The institute is now able to continue with the TET Project based contractual staff as it is. Meanwhile, the institute in future will work on identifying the requirements of the staff and appoint them with a regular process of advertising for the post as per the other UGC-approved appointments,” said an official from the institute’s administration.
On Friday, the TISS dismissed as many as 55 teachers and close to 60 non-teaching staff members across its four campuses, without any notice. The staff via letters issued on June 28 were informed that the institute was unable to secure the release of grants for their salaries from the Tata Education Trust, even after several attempts.
All these employees were appointed to positions under projects funded by the Tata Education Trust. Whereas, the remaining teachers on the TISS campuses are permanent faculty members on the University Grants Commission (UGC) payroll.
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According to the administration, it had approached the Tata Education Trust multiple times in the past six months. The administration was required to submit a proposal for the continuation of the grants, which they said they had sent. But there was no response and no update on the decision regarding further extension of the grant period.
The letter also stated, “in the event of non-receipt of approval/grant from Tata Education Trust”, their services would come to an end with effect from June 30.
The decision of dismissal had come as a shock to all the employees who were busy in the process of admissions throughout the month of June. “Even as our contracts officially ended in May, it was extended by a month amid admissions. Therefore, the dismissal came as a sudden shock to us,” said one of the faculty members while many of them had also raised concerns on how the institute planned to run the courses after arbitrary dismissal of such a large number of employees without having an alternative ready.
