TISS Fee Row in Hyderabad: Students fear they might have to drop out

Students claim administration cutting off GoI Post Matric scholarship for SC/ST and OBC students as a move to deny higher education to those from marginalised sections
TISS students sitting on a protest in Hyderabad on Tuesday | Vinay Madapu
TISS students sitting on a protest in Hyderabad on Tuesday | Vinay Madapu

HYDERABAD: Twenty-five-year old Angad Khoasai, pursuing masters in Development Studies at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Roda Mistry campus, had his career plan well chalked out. After a masters in Economics from Banaras Hindu University, he knew social service was his calling and therefore he chose Development Studies at TISS Hyderabad over Disaster management at TISS Mumbai.

Coming from a nondescript village in the red belt of Kashipur block in Rayagada district of Odisha, from a family that owns just 1.5 acres of land, he had the option to join the naxalities or become educated. He chose the latter. The only post graduate from his village, he now fears that he might have to drop out of the course.

With the administration cutting off Government of India-Post Matric scholarship for SC/ST and OBC students, several students like Angad are in a fix. As many as 26 students who were availing the exemption have been asked to pay `1 lakh towards their food and lodging fees.

“If you ask me for money, I don’t have the resources to pay. If I don’t pay, they will drive me out of here. And if that happens, where will I go?,” asks Angad.

In solidarity with the likes of Angad, all four campuses of TISS have been staging protests and have boycotted classes, academic works and locked the gates demanding the restoration of the financial assistance to the SC, ST and OBC students. Tuesday, the seventh day, Hyderabad students escalated agitation by going on an indefinite hunger strike.

Salman Khan, an OBC candidate from Ghaziabad, is also the most educated member of his family. The Public Policy and Governance student wants to start an NGO after completing his MA from the Institute.
“I am already in talks with alumni of Jamia Milia, Delhi, and few other in Hyderabad with regards to funding. But all this can happen only if I complete the course. For that, I need to pay, which I cannot afford,” he told Express.

Students see this as a move to suppress marginalised students from getting educated. Already with funds cut, number of OBC students in TISS has been on the decline — from 28 pc in 2013-14 to 18 pc in 2016-17. Withdrawal of financial aid will make the higher education space more exclusive, students say.

Impasse between students and TISS continues

Hyderabad: Students of TISS-Hyderabad, who started an indefinite hunger strike on Tuesday, seemed to have achieved their goal, albeit partially.  A week into the strike, acting director Prof Shalini Bharat visited Hyderabad on Tuesday. However, since students had demanded a meeting with the registrar, they refused to have a dialogue with Prof Bharat and demanded that the registrar comes to meet them by 9 am Wednesday.

The students of TISS Hyderabad have already issued a charter demanding, among other things, restoration of the GOI MS, improved security, amenities, and infrastructure, financial autonomy and/or decentraliation of powers to the off-campuses. “We do not want any more talks with administration. We want action. We want the powers responsible in the TISS Mumbai to come down to Hyderabad,” said Pallavi Pratibha, a student.   

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