In a statement released late yesterday night, Wednesday, March 13, the students’ union of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) Mumbai highlighted concerns regarding the infringement of students' rights and freedom on the campus.
The statement was released on thestudent union's official instagram handle 'TISS Mumbai Students' Union' (@tiss_mumbai_su).
The union expressed that there have been instances of the institute levying informal restrictions on student activities, events and gatherings without any prior explanation.
“The implementation of informal restrictions on student activities without explanations, including event approvals (even for routine school events), venne usage, and gatherings raises a fundamental question: whom is this campus actually for? It seems the restrictions are focused on creating an 'artificially sanitised’ environment for the time being. rather than fostering a vibrant and engaged student community,” the statement read.
The statement further pointed out that the current environment at TISS is a complete violation of the student entitlement suggested by the University Grants Commission (UGC) which states that “the students are entitled to freedom of thought and expression within the campus.”
To recall, on January 18 this year, the institute released a notice asking students not to organise or participate in any public programme opposing the Ram temple consecration on January 22.
This notice received severe criticism from the students who shared that it was “arbitrary and undemocratic.”
The notice led to a meeting between the students’ union and the administration to discuss the issue of limited academic freedom on campus.
Following the meeting, the administration assured them that their concerns would be addressed and a new set of student-centric guidelines would be released.
However, the union complained that no update has been released in this regard yet.
“The guidelines that were promised on the 18th of January by the institute during the meeting with the SU are still not released despite many follow-ups. This creates confusion and frustration amongst the student body. It is high time that the administration releases clear and official guidelines that are student centric and we urge them to include the elected student representatives in the process of drafting such guidelines,” the statement released on Wednesday, March 13, added.
