By MuslimMirror.com,

New Delhi: Demanding fee waiver and financial aid for reserved categories, the protests by students of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) have entered second week. The students belonging to four campuses, Mumbai, Tuljapur, Hyderabad and Gawhati, are protesting against institute’s decision to stop aiding SC, ST and OBC students who have got admission post 2016 academic session.

In a politically charged 3,000-word statement signed by mainly by scholars and activists in support of the striking TISS students it is alleged that TISS management has put more pressure on the students to bring more money from their homes. “Though this issue has been consistently in debate since 2010 onwards in some form or other, it came up in a big way during the present Modi regime, when it began to target the scholarship to student from specific social groups.”

Earlier, diverting blame towards government, the Registrar of the institute shared a circular saying that the institute has gone over and above their required mandate to provide fee exception. “After the implementation of Direct Bank Transfer scheme for scholarship, the students have to ask the government for the scholarship money.”

Student organisations from prominent universities like JNU, Mumbai University, Hyderabad Central University Students Union, Delhi University, Gujarat Central University, Jamia Millia Islamia have extended support to the TISS strike. Meanwhile, many TISS Teacher’s Association members have also come up in support of students’ demands.

With stagnant positions taken by both students and administration, the deadlock seems likely to continue.