Mumbai: Early on Tuesday, July 30 morning, over a dozen residential PhD scholars at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) were served eviction notices, demanding they vacate their campus accommodations within 24 hours. The notices cited the scholars’ enrollment over five years ago, disqualifying them from on-campus housing. The affected scholars primarily belong to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), and Denotified/Nomadic communities.
The majority of these scholars hail from rural parts of Maharashtra and other regions of India. “How does the institute administration think we can vacate our rooms in a day and move to our hometown?” questioned one scholar.
Another scholar, who enrolled in the PhD programme in 2019 and is currently in the writing stage of their thesis, contested the notice’s claims. “They (the institute) claim we have occupied the space for over five years. That is a blatant lie. Soon after the COVID-19 pandemic broke, the campus went under complete lockdown and for over two and a half years, we were back in our villages,” the scholar explained. Most of them reported staying on campus for about three to three and a half years.
Typically, a PhD takes around five years to complete, but the pandemic caused significant delays, especially in fieldwork. At TISS, hostel facilities are primarily offered to students from SC, ST, and OBC backgrounds. However, the accommodation is not free.
Prior to the eviction letter, the students had received notices in April and June. They had communicated their difficulties to the administration, explaining that they were in the crucial stage of thesis writing. “In June, the administration even assured us an extension until September. But suddenly this eviction notice arrived,” a student shared.
TISS has undergone several administrative changes in recent years. Formerly an autonomous university, it is now governed by the University Grants Commission (UGC). Recently, the institute made headlines for issuing en masse termination letters to over 100 teaching and non-teaching staff across all four campuses. Following public outcry, the termination letters were retracted, but the institute is yet to provide a definitive solution for those staff members.
The eviction letter served to PhD scholars states: “You are very well aware that this institute is a public university and all students are entitled, subject to satisfaction of certain conditions, for allotment of hostel rooms so that there is no hindrance in pursuing their higher education.” The evicted students argue that this goal cannot be achieved at the cost of displacing current residents.
Notably, the scholars facing eviction are also among the most vocal students who have frequently questioned the administration’s shortcomings. “It seems like they want to get rid of politically conscious and vocal students. Overstay is just a flimsy excuse for this eviction,” said one scholar.
The letter was signed by Professor M. Mariappan, Dean of Student Affairs, and Dr. Vaishali Kohle, Associate Dean of Student Affairs.
Upon receiving the eviction letter, the students met with Dean Mariappan. “Since the Dean had earlier assured us of an extension until September, we met him again today and expressed our difficulties. He said he couldn’t intervene anymore as the decision this time has come from higher authorities,” a student shared.
The students have submitted a letter to the dean expressing their distress, stating, “We are staying on campus because you agreed to extend our accommodation… As you are aware, we are all from outside Mumbai and come from socially marginalised backgrounds. It is not feasible for us to vacate within 24 hours and search for alternative accommodation.”
TISS’s response
The Wire reached out to both Mariappan and Kohle for comments. A day after this report was published, Kohle sent a response attributed to the TISS administration.
The response states:
First of all, its not eviction of any students of TISS but requesting those to vacate the hostels who are unlawfully overstaying in the hostels by depriving huge number of deserving new students. TISS has always been extremely supportive towards all its students and we take extra care for each one’s academic and personal needs.
Some students are misusing TISS’s benevolence, needless to reiterate here that as per rule no PhD student can forcefully occupy hostel seat for more than 5 to 6 years without progressing in the PhD studies. They are staying in hostels for free, eating free in Dinning Hall, not paying semester fees, each one them has outstanding payment dues up to lakhs of rupees. It’s not possible to run an institute in such exorbitant deficits.
The response claimed that a few PhD students have outstanding amounts ranging between Rs. 1.5 lakhs and 2.5 lakhs. “After giving several warning letters, finally, the institute has taken this firm decision as they are neither completing their PhD work nor paying the fees.”
In response, one of the students who was served with an eviction notice claimed that the institute is “peddling more lies.”
“For instance, I have cleared all my dues, and I have not overstayed in the hostel. Yet, I am told to vacate the space. The letter served to me mentions my enrollment year incorrectly and has also counted the two and a half years that the institute was under lockdown. Equating their duty to benevolence only exhibits the institute’s insensitivity towards students from marginalized identities,” he added.
TISS, in its response to The Wire has further claimed that they are “already running in huge deficits”.
“[TISS has a debt of] A total of Rs 18 to 19 crore, [because] a large number of students have financial liabilities to the institute. Many past students successfully got degrees, took lucrative jobs but they don’t have any moral responsibility of repaying their outstanding dues to the institute,” Kohle said.
“We strongly believe no responsible and accountable students or faculty should misuse and manipulate print and electronic media to defame this highly reputed institute for their ulterior motives and selfish interests,” Kohle’s message further added.
Note: This report was updated with TISS’s response.
