TISS strike continues in Mumbai even as some students call off protest

Students from MU, IIT-Bombay and Indian Institute of Population Sciences show up in solidarity with protestors

Students’ stir at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) showed no sign of waning, even as some members of the students’ union called off the strike after the administration agreed to some of their demands.

TISS students protest in front of the institute’s main gate in Mumbai on Monday. (PRAFUL GANGURDE/HT)

On Monday, the day 13 of the strike, around 500 activists from around 20 social and political organisations also turned up at the institute to lend their support to the students, who are protesting cuts in scholarships given to students from scheduled castes (SC), scheduled tribes (ST) and other backward categories (OBCs). Students from the University of Mumbai and Indian Institute of Technology- Bombay and Indian Institute of Population Sciences also showed up in solidarity with the students.

“The TISS students have emerged as a symbol of resistance. They are not protesting a local issue, but rather something that affects alll the students. While educational funds are being cut since 2013, tuition fees are being raised,” said Simab Khan, Mumbai division secretary, Students Islamic Organisation of India, which participated in the protest.

The students vowed to continue their protest until all their demands are met. “The TISS administration has not come out with any concrete and sustainable solution to resolve the scholarship issue, despite the students, time and again, bringing it to the administration notice, the high number of dropout rates, which the institute has witnessed from the year 2015, when the fee waiver was rolled back,” said Fahad Ahmed, general secretary, TISS students union.