National Commission for Scheduled Tribes holds hearing for TISS students

Since February 21 , students at TISS have been protesting against the roll back of fee waiver given to SC, ST and OBC students, eligible for GoI-PMS scholarships.

National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) held a hearing on the protests organised by students at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).

Following a complaint lodged by a group of students from TISS, NCST heard the views of all stake holders on Thursday.

Since February 21 , students at TISS have been protesting against the institute’s decision to roll back the fee waiver given to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Other Backward Class (OBC) students, eligible for Government of India Post Matric Scholarship (GoI-PMS) last year.

“We put our problems forth and are glad that the officials at NCST understood our concerns. A public-funded institute cannot be made unapproachable for any student and NCST reiterated this point,” said one of the students who attended the meeting.

Apart from students and TISS management representatives, the meeting was attended by officials from University Grants Commission (UGC), Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD and Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

“The NCST heard us and understood the institute’s situation. We are doing our best. Whatever more can be done needs to be done by the government,” said a TISS spokesperson .

In addition, NCST also instructed UGC to increase the number of scholarships available for students from reserved categories.

“The UGC was instructed to make available more scholarships for students from reserved categories in the future, to avoid such instances,” said the student.

A group of students at TISS have continued the strike for more than 50 days now.