Mumbai: The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has come under fire after issuing a show cause notice to Dr. Arjun Sengupta, an Assistant Professor at its Hyderabad Off-Campus, over his alleged involvement in a student protest. The notice was issued based on “a widely circulated Instagram video” where Sengupta is seen addressing a small gathering of students.
The notice, dated October 4, 2024, accused Sengupta of participating in an “unauthorised protest and and encouraging the Progressive Students’ Forum (PSF) and Progressive Students’ Organisation (PSO) for their acts raising voice” against the ongoing issues at the institute.
The protest, the Free Press Journal has learnt, was organised by two students’ groups —Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) and PSO — against the termination of over 100 contractual teaching and non-teaching staff who are feared to be terminated on December 31st this year.
The termination letter, with a notice period till June 30, was initially issued by the Institute on June 28 citing “financial crunches”, but was withdrawn two days later after the Tata Education Trust (TET) assured to release funds for the salaries of project and programme faculty and non-teaching staff.
But with TET funds released for only until the end of December, students and teachers fear that the staffers will once again be released at short notice. The students’ bodies also raised their voice against the suspension of a PhD scholar Ramadas KS, who is fighting a case against the institute’s decision in the Bombay High Court.
“They are going to terminate the contract of more than 50% of the teaching staff. A number of students are being supervised by them for their dissertations. What will happen to those students?,” asked a TISS Mumbai student on condition of anonymity.
“The university, while taking back the notice, did not disclose the future course of action and they have still kept mum about it, keeping both the teachers as well as the students in the dark,” said a TISS professor.
“The contractual employees were hired as part of the TET project when the institute was not run by the government. But since it was converted into a public institution, TET funds naturally stopped coming. How do they expect us to pay their salaries when we are facing financial crunches? They have known forever that they are contractual employees and once the institute’s purpose is fulfilled, they will be relieved. But now they are creating a ruckus for no reason. Some teachers and students are protesting illegally and for no reason just defame the institution,” a top TISS official told FPJ on condition of anonymity.
In its notice to Sengupta, TISS cited violations of its bylaws, which prohibit faculty from engaging in political activities or criticising the institution publicly. The notice threatened termination of his employment if he failed to provide a satisfactory explanation within seven days.
Sengupta, in his response dated October 8, criticised the institute for violating his rights, calling the process “factually unfounded, unconstitutional, and illegal.” He highlighted that the video on Instagram, cited as evidence, was not provided to him until four days after he requested it. He also argued that the seven-day deadline was unreasonable, given the threat of termination.
Moreover, Sengupta pointed out that TISS failed to offer him a fair hearing, denying him the right to legal representation and the opportunity to rebut evidence.
Sengupta in his response also refuted claims of inciting students, explaining that the gathering was peaceful and took place during lunch, without disrupting academic activities.
“He was not inciting anyone. We had gathered there to protest against the ongoing issues at TISS. The administration is keeping us all unknown about the future of staff. The environment at TISS is that of fear. They are not allowing protests and banning students’ bodies. The students union elections have been stalled for months. We were raising our voice against all these issues peacefully. Since when have peaceful protests become illegal and started attracting show cause notice,” asked a member of ASA.
