“Hum humara hak maangte, nahin kisee se bheek maangte” – is the chant that has been echoing at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) for more than 40 days as students call out scholarship cuts by the administration and fight for social justice.
The agitation began on February 21, when students from across TISS’ four campuses in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Guwahati and Tuljapur joined hands against withdrawal of financial aid to SC/ST category students, eligible for Government of India Post Matriculate Scholarship (GOI-PMS) funds.
Earlier, the TISS administration had withdrawn financial aid for OBC students, followed by withdrawal of aid for students from the SC/ST category from across its campuses.
Students said “TISS has experienced an estimated 9 per cent drop in enrolment from the OBC category since it withdrew financial aid for them in 2015”.
The students expressed their concern by putting forward a charter of four demands: waiver of fee (tuition, dining hall and hostel) for the current batch of GOI-PMS students (2016-18 and 2017-19); symbolic representation of the office of Dean SPO from SC, ST, OBC category; waiver for students with disabilities; and an immediate notification on the TISS website to provide a clear financial assistance mechanism for GoI-PMS students of the upcoming batch of 2018-20.
On February 27, six students from TISS Hyderabad went on a hunger strike, which was called off the next day. Prof Shalini Bharat, acting Director of TISS, reportedly came to an agreement with the students on waiver of hostel and tuition fee of enrolled SC, ST and OBC students.
The protests also saw a rift among the student body. TISS Students’ Union president Archana Soreng with majority support (5 of 7) called off the strike on March 2, while another group continued with it. Elaborating on the action, Mumbai Mirror reported her as saying: “The strike has been called off because most of the demands have been met.”
On March 4, a group of delegates from the Hyderabad, Guwahati and Tuljapur campuses reached Mumbai to discuss the union’s action reportedly taken without consultation with student representatives. The meeting between students’ council members and representatives from the other campuses was held in the presence of Prof Shalini Bharat along with the Registrar. The delegation accused the executive committee of unilaterally taking decisions and ignoring the issues of the other campuses. The common concerns along with academic and administrative issues of all the campuses were put forward in the minutes of the meeting.
The delegation of students agreed to attend classes – which had been disrupted so far because of the agitation – so that exams and convocation could be held on time. But the protests continued too.
On March 10, the TISS administration proposed to exempt SC and ST students of the 2017-20 and 2017-19 batches in the undergraduate and postgraduate courses from paying fees, and students from OBC (non-creamy layer) category to get aid up to Rs 12,000. The issue of high hostel and dining hall charges remained unaddressed.
Days later, 43 students from TISS Guwahati went on an indefinite hunger strike in response to the administration’s proposed resolution.
Tikendra Rai Chelak, vice president of GOI-PMS Students’ Association, Guwahati campus, said: “Three rounds of meetings were held with the TISS administration on March 14 and 15 and after laying down several conditions, the GOI-PMS association of TISS, Guwahati, decided to call off the strike,” according to TOI. The hunger strike was called off on March 16.
Events took a dramatic turn on March 27, when the administration issued memos and legal notice to seven protesting students for “ransacking the Registrar’s offices, creating blockades for over a month, vandalism, etc.” The students were also issued notice, asking them to “refrain from unlawful actions”.
On March 28, a Bombay civil court passed orders allowing the students to continue the protests as long as they were peaceful.
The general body of students, in a press statement, called it a “victory of the protesting students” and said “rights have been upheld in the face of the institution’s attempts to stamp on the fundamental rights of students.”
TISS Teacher’s Association, Ambedkar Students Association HCU unit, Pinjara Tod student collective from DU and Students’ Union of HCU all showed solidarity with the TISS protesters and held the vigil to keep the movement alive.
Following the court order, the student body from the Mumbai campus wrote to the administration seeking dialogue; and threatened to continue with the demonstration if not given a response by April 2. The campus has remained closed since the court’s judgment.