Campus politics at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) is being fundamentally reshaped this year, with the administration rolling out changes that replace the Students’ Union with a Students’ Council, introduce a mandatory non-political affiliation undertaking for candidates, and remove student representatives from key decision-making bodies.
The changes, however, have sparked pushback from student groups, which say they significantly reduce the role of student representatives in institutional decision-making and in shaping their own elected bodies.
To start with, the title of the document has been changed from Students’ Union Constitution to Students’ Council Constitution, effectively replacing the original Students’ Union model at TISS Mumbai. Earlier, a seven-member executive body with office-bearers such as president, vice-president and general secretary were elected to these posts. Now, there is no executive body with such positions. Instead, a Students’ Council will be formed, comprising representatives — one from each class from every programme run at the Mumbai campus. This has raised concerns amongst students that the absence of an executive body of elected members will result in dilution of representative powers of students, especially on important administrative bodies.
Secondly, representation of the elected student body on key institutional bodies such as Academic Council, Disciplinary Committee and General Complaints committee has been abolished, which students have alleged significantly reduce the role of students in institutional decision-making. The Academic Council is the highest decision-making body on all important academic matters of a higher education institution. The Disciplinary Committee handles proceedings of disciplinary action initiated against students, amongst other matters. “In the earlier practice, the president and general secretary represented students on these bodies. But the new Students’ Council Constitution excludes this,” said a student requesting anonymity.
Under the new Students’ Council structure, the election process has been decentralised. Each class will elect one representative, and these representatives will together form a larger Students’ Council. Once elected, council members will be placed on different committees such as finance, culture, literature and sports by way of nomination by the institute administration. These nominations will be made by the Office of Student Affairs (OSA), which will also have the power to add non-elected students to committees if it feels representation is inadequate. The OSA will also nominate elected student representatives to important bodies such as the Gender Development Cell and the Equal Opportunity Cell. Student groups have alleged that this expanded role of the OSA shifts decision-making power away from elected representatives and towards the administration.
The revised rules introduce a new compulsory undertaking for candidates, requiring them to declare that they are not affiliated with, nor represent, any political party, organisation or student wing. Earlier, candidates only had to declare that they had no criminal record, that the information submitted was accurate, and that they would comply with election rules. The new format expands this to include declarations that candidates have no political affiliations, face no pending disciplinary action, maintain a minimum 75% attendance, and have no academic arrears. The undertaking also states that any false declaration can lead to immediate cancellation of candidature. “Other conditions, although not explicitly part of the undertaking, were certainly considered during the older process of nomination too. But it is absurd for the institute to ask students contesting for student body election to declare that they don’t have any political affiliation,” said one of the student candidates on condition of anonymity.
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Amid the controversy over the undertaking, students have also raised concerns about the lack of transparency in how the revised framework for student body elections was finalised. “After we raised objections, the administration has declared that the Students’ Council Constitution is only a draft and up for suggestions from students. But even before our suggestions are considered the election programme is already underway,” said a student, adding that they were given until 5 pm on Friday to submit suggestions to the revised Constitution, while the nomination process for the February 6 election had already closed on Thursday.
Students have argued that if the proposed Constitution is still a draft, the upcoming student body elections cannot be conducted under the revised framework. “But the institute administration has not provided any clarity on this,” added another student.
TISS’s Dean of Student Affairs Prof M Mariappan, however, clarified that this election will be as per the new framework. “All the suggestions aimed at strengthening the student council model will be considered,” he said.
About the changes in the structure of the student body, the institute administration insists that this is to ensure a wider participation of students. “Having a large student council with various committees, instead of a student union of only a few members, ensures decentralisation of power along with more opportunities for a larger number of students to develop their personalities by involving in extra-curricular activities. For example, having a sports committee will ensure that good sportsmen from the campus are facilitated to participate in various competitions. Their representation of TISS will bring the institute a recognition at a wider spectrum of talent,” said Prof Mariappan, refuting students’ claims that they will no longer be represented on the administration bodies. “Students will be represented on all statutory bodies of the institution as per requirement,” he said.
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The undertaking, however, is a routine process, according to the institute administration. Prof Mariappan said, “No one will be disqualified on the basis of the undertaking alone. This is only a precautionary measure so that students do not bring their political behaviour into the institutional function. The institute believes that student candidates will understand that while performing their duty as student council members on various committees they should ensure a solution-oriented approach to work alongside the administration with focus only on students’ welfare.”
