Press note

In the context of the student agitation at TISS Hyderabad, this note provides a comprehensive
picture of the functioning of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Off-Campus Hyderabad. The
statement emphasizes too that the support provided by TISS to the Government of India-
Post Matric Scholarship (GOI-PMS) students is not paralleled by any other institute in the
country.
Background:
1. TISS Hyderabad Off-Campus was established in 2012 at the invitation extended earlier by
Dr.Y.S.Rajasekhar Reddy, the former Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh. The State
government backed its invitation to TISS by allocating 65 acres of land near Hyderabad in
Kothur Mandal.
2. Pending the construction of a building on the land allocated to it, TISS has been operating from
rented premises. In June 2019, the campus shifted to its present location in Turkayamjal,
Nagarjuna Sagar Road.
3. Since TISS Hyderabad has not had a functional campus of its own from the time of the
commencement of its programmes, hostels for students too have all along been hired and run by
private service providers, identified and selected through a process of bidding. While some
students availed the hostel facilities, others stayed on their own in rented premises close to the
Institute.
4. Students staying in the hostels were not always satisfied with the services provided and there
were complaints of various kinds against the services providers. It was in this context that the
Institute declared the Hyderabad campus as non-residential in October 2018.
5. However, this was not accepted by the students who went on strike in December 2018 demanding
revocation of the non-residential tag. In response to the demands of the students, the Institute
authorities assured them of the continuation of hostel facilities by private service providers till
such time as the Institute secured its own campus.

The Current Strike:

Two main demands are raised by students in the present strike that began on 8th July 2019: (a) the
Institute should bridge the gap between the scholarship amount provided by the GOI Post-Matric
scholarship and the actual living expenses in the hostel
(b) the Institute should mediate between students and the private service provider to ensure lowering of
the hostel tariffs for all students.

(a) Support to GOI-PMS students

Over and above the support provided through the Post-Matric Scholarship of the Government of India
and State governments, TISS bridges the gap between the Scholarship amounts (that are meagre
in the case of GOI-PMS students from certain States) and the actual hostel expenses of the GOI-
PMS students. TISS is the only institute in the country to provide this kind of support for SC,
ST, OBC (NC) post matric scholarship students. For OBC (NC, i.e. with income below Rs.1
lakh annually) student, annual need-based student aid is sanctioned towards tuition fee and hostel
charges.

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While earlier, TISS was able to step in and provide financial support for GOI-PMS students with ease,
insufficient grants from the Government, depletion of its own corpus money and increase in the
number of students has placed a strain on the resources of TISS in recent times. It now raises
funds for providing financial aid to students. For the academic year 2018-19, TISS mobilized
Rs.38,60,000/- and disbursed the amounts as financial aid to students in need. Upto Rs.
55,000 per annum (per student) have been sanctioned to the neediest students from SC, ST
GOI PMS students to support their hostel charges.

For the current batches of the GOI-PMS students, TISS Administration has already approved as
interim aid, financial support of Rs.15,000/- for each GOI-PMS student to pay the Service
Provider for admission into the hostel. 26 GOI students are benefitting from this decision
in the academic year 2019-20.

The Institute also provides academic fee concessions for eligible GOI-PMS students. It altogether,
collects Rs. 9500/- over four semesters towards the entire course fee of the MA students. Free
laptops are provided for the use of the GOI-PMS students who need them.

(b) Regarding hostel tariff

The hostel service provider at Turkayamjal is himself the owner of the campus where TISS is located.
As such there was no bidding process this time around to select the service provider. However,
students were involved all along in the discussions and negotiations with the Hostel owner-cum-
service provider.

The final hostel tariff decided through the different stages of the negotiations is in fact lesser than
that of last year (however, with reduced facilities like the non-availability of washing
machines). The major difference though is that the service provider has stipulated that students
make upfront payment for 6 months or 12 months unlike the earlier mode that involved monthly
payments. The change in payment mode was made by the present owner-cum-service provider
because of the feedback received by him from the previous service provider that several students
do not pay on time and there is in fact a pending bill of Rs 7 lakhs that the students still owe to
the last year’s service provider.

As the details above clarify, in keeping with its commitment to principles of social justice, TISS
continues to address the needs of students from socially and economically underprivileged
backgrounds.

Sd.
TISS Management Committee