The Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai has issued a circular to the staff and faculty that since the institution is funded by the government, they cannot join the protests. The circular issued by the acting registrar said that participating in the protest is against the 'conduct rules' and that if they remain absent from duty then it would be treated as 'unauthorised'.
The students and faculty are equally enraged by the notice, "When it comes to protests, they say TISS is government-funded. But when it comes to fees, then it is priced like a private institution," a student said. The circular was issued after several faculty members attended the protests at the August Kranti Maidan yesterday, one of the biggest anti-CAA protests in the country.
However, the President of the TISS Teachers' Association said that there is no rule that prevents them from participating in a demonstration for their rights. They are only required to apply for casual leave and participate, "I had applied for casual leave as had all the other faculty who also participated in the protest. In fact, we usually only have classes till around 4, we took the classes and only then went for the protest," he said.
Those faculty who did have classes later on in the evening did stay on and take classes, he explained. "We, of course, cannot all apply for mass casual leave but that did not happen. only about 15-20 faculty members went yesterday," he said.
