Interview: Dr S Parasuraman

What has been the most challenging part of your job?
TISS has 49.5 per cent SC/ST, OBC students. When TISS had 300 students, we were providing free education to all SC/ST students. But, when you have 5,000 students, it is not possible to do that. The government does not give you that kind of money. There is a demand for social justice but without having enough resources for that. So we accumulate quite a lot of deficit and the government does not pay that. These are the problems.

What is the current situation in terms of the funds deficit?
TISS has a Rs 20-30 crore deficit. Various government departments have to pay that much money which we have spent. This includes expenditure on students, hiring faculty. We are the only institute in the country which has a teacher-student ratio of 1:14. Not even the IITs, IIMs have that kind of ratio. But, we are working with the government to solve this deficit issue. I met the HRD minister too in this regard. A way will be found.

Why were some teachers removed recently?
We have not removed anyone. We continued to work with the government to see that funds were released to pay their salaries. But some people went because they found other jobs.

Is there an apprehension that the issues faced by institutes like FTII in the appointment of chairman will also happen with TISS?
TISS cannot be influenced. It follows a procedure of universal advertisements, calling for applications, going through a proper process of shortlisting three best candidates. Even if a minister calls or the Prime Minister calls, they will only go by the merit list. People think the government will influence you, the government does not influence you because my faculty and students are very strong.

During your term, the JNU issue took place that led to students being booked under sedition charges. You told your students to stay away?
I tell my students you can agitate. When you walk in the street, who comes and joins and says what slogans, you have no control. That is my objection. If you walk from TISS gate to Maitri Park, you are walking on a public road, someone can come and say wrong things, anti-national things. I tell my students to be careful as you have no control over who joins you. I tell my students you are nationalistic, you will not do wrong things, media does not catch it, it will catch the wrong. There are various ways to express dissent, making it a political issue is a bad thing. Students are there to study, make their lives better and go away. Education should be free of political affiliation.

What are the major projects that TISS is involved in?
We are working with farmers in seven districts of Maharashtra — Palghar, Chandrapur, Sindhudurg, Latur, Osmanabad, Beed and Nanded. We will be working on climate resilient agriculture with the Maharashtra government.

What should be the focus areas to improve the quality of secondary education in India?
The government should focus on general education as a whole, not just on IITs and IIMs. That has its limitations. The government should give more resources to general education, strengthen them. The Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) does that, that is where we need to go. The government can see to it that teachers come to school, that schools fare well and students are attending them.

Your comments on this year’s Union budget?
In our country, there is no problem of resources for health, education and social sector. We have Right to Education, Right to Health and Right to Food but the problem is these programmes don’t come together and perform properly. If we can make it into a convergence model, it will serve the purpose. This government has built on what the UPA created. But it needs to trickle down to public so that development happens.

Anything the present government could do differently? You have seen governments change in your tenure. Has it ever made your job difficult?
The government should work towards compassionate capitalism. We should be far more concerned about people and how their condition can be improved, instead of looking at people as consumers. Social security programme is in that direction. The government, I think, is working for it. Every government is different. Usually social science institutions are not favoured as much as technical institutions by any government. We have to find ways whereby we can survive. We work with all state governments and central government to make a difference.

What do you see as the way forward on the SC/ST, OBC students’ scholarship issue? Are we making TISS inaccessible?
Last year, not a single SC/ST, OBC student left because of not being able to pay fees. We are working with the government to solve the issue. We are talking to the UGC chairperson, HRD minister. I am also raising money from other counters for paying fees. This year we raised Rs 2 crore.