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TISS director quits over allegations of suppressing audit report, gag order for staff

The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) campus at Deonar is abuzz with talks of the resignation of its director Prof S Parasuraman.

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I’m still the director: Prof S Parasuraman
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The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) campus at Deonar is abuzz with talks of the resignation of its director Prof S Parasuraman. The top official put in his papers on Monday apparently over allegations of suppressing an audit report that was reportedly critical of him and the functioning of the four campuses of the institute. Parasuraman has been associated with TISS for the past 10 years.

While Parasuraman met the chairperson of TISS's governing board, S Ramadorai, on Tuesday, there was no clarity till the time of going to press whether his resignation was accepted.

It emerged late in the evening that he allegedly directed the faculty members not to speak to the media about the whole development. A message was communicated to all teachers through an email by deputy director Neela Dabir.

"Director's office is taking care of the news. I request all of you to refrain from any interview or statement to media. It is possible that it may be in good faith but may be misconstrued or misrepresented (by the media) and add to the issue," read the mail.

A review committee formed in January 2014, and which comprised top academicians from across the country, had reportedly prepared a draft report and submitted it to the institute in July last year. The draft allegedly noted the irregularities in the manner in which the institution was expanding, especially the faculty and space crunch owing to the launch of several new courses.

TISS, a deemed university and an institution of global repute, has managed to keep itself out of any major controversies so far, at least not known to the outside world.

However, many dissenting voices emerged from the campus as the news of his resignation spread. A senior professor said, "He has been running the institute like an authoritarian and there has been no scope for democratic voices."

Mariette Correa, a former professor of the Guwahati campus, and her husband Vidyadhar Gadgil, who worked as an associate professor on contractual basis, were sacked allegedly after they had voiced opinion against the functioning of TISS. Mairtae, who now lives in Goa, said, "Our services were terminated as we opposed the way the standard of teaching was compromised. Our emails were blocked to prevent us from contacting teachers at Mumbai campus and raise the issue."

When asked for his version, Prof Parasuraman replied through an SMS, "I don't understand what you mean. I am still the director of the TISS. Faculty members are free to speak if need to speak." He, however, didn't respond to an SMS regarding allegations of a dictatorial style of functioning.

Another roadblock for National Law varsity

The National Law University of Maharashtra, which has been struggling for past eight months to get a place to start with, may have hit another roadblock. It is Parasuraman who has offered NLU a temporary accommodation. NLU's vice-chancellor Prof BP Panda, who was looking forward to sign an MoU with TISS, was disappointed over the development. "I don't know about the future of the MoU now. I don't even know if we will be able to start admission this year."

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