TISS students all set to resume their GOI-PMS fight

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With the students of the Guwahati campus of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) gearing up to renew their fight against the institute in support of the reserved category students, who have been deprived of their Government of India - Post Matric Scholarship (GOI-PMS), those from the Mumbai campus plans to support them by wearing badges with 'injustice' written on them from today. According to students, the protests were put on hold after the institute and government promised to look into the matter. But, unfortunately, they have failed to deliver on their promises.

As part of the Guwahati campus protest, which started on Thursday, students boycotted classes and staged demonstrations on campus with placards in their hands. A statement issued by their students' union, says, "The reason for withdrawing the earlier protest was a notification from the Ministry of Human Resource Development saying that a committee comprising a member of the University Grants Commission, TISS faculty and students from other campuses of the institute would be formed to deal with the matter. Some students have actively communicating with the administration during the past 10 months, asking them to fulfill their promise. The members of the GOI-PMS Students' Association have sent a number of mails to the Mumbai institute director, asking her about the progress in the matter. But there has been no reply."

Meanwhile, the students' union at the Mumbai campus said that it had become difficult for them to actively take part in the protests, as the institute has directed them not to do so based on a high court order. Speaking to mid-day, Jit Hazarika, president of the students' union at TISS Mumbai, said, "The authorities are clearly misinterpreting the HC order from last year to suppress the students' voices. That order was meant for the protests that were taking place at the campus last year. We want to clear the ambiguity around it, and have written to the authorities about our stand on it." After repeated attempts to contact Dr. Shalini Bharat, director of the institute, she remained unavailable for comments.

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