Tata Institute Of Social Sciences: All you need to know

In 1986, TISS set up a Student Services Cell with financial assistance from the then Ministry of Welfare, GoI, to assist SC and ST students in improving their academic performance and optimising their personal and social development. In 1988, the Institute obtained the approval of the UGC to set up a Special Cell for SCs and STs, which began functioning from 1989.

The 1998 UGC Guidelines directed all educational institutions and Universities receiving grant-in-aid from the UGC to establish Cells not only for the SCs and STs, but also for Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Persons with Disability (PWD), and religious minorities. The purpose of these Cells was to help the University/Colleges/Institutions concerned implement the reservation policy with regard to admission of students, as well as recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff at various levels. With a view to accommodate all this under one umbrella and for better coordination and functioning, the Social Protection Office (SPO) of TISS was established in 2012. The SPO was managed by a faculty member designated as Liaison Officer-cum-Dean.

In 2018, based on meetings with the National Commission of Scheduled Tribes, the Institute decided to divide the work of the SPO into two different Cells, viz., the SC/ST Cell to deal with the issues of the SC and ST students, teaching and non-teaching staff, and the Equal Opportunity Cell to deal with the issues of OBCs, Religious Minorities, PWD, Kashmiri Migrants and kin of Armed Forces.

By: Geetu Katyal