Mumbai: Tata Institute of Social Sciences director retires after 14-year tenure

S Parsuraman

Prof. S Parsuraman, director of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) for the last 14 years, retired yesterday. In past happenings involving TISS, students had claimed unexpected government interference in institute's functioning that, according to them, had compromised its academic liberty. With the director's retirement coming at a time like this, speculations and discussions have already begun on who will be the next chief.

Prof. Shalini Bharat, deputy director (academics) at TISS and the seniormost among the deputy directors, will be the acting director till a new one is appointed. Prof. Parsuraman was associated with TISS for 31 years, after joining the institute in 1981. He took over as its director in 2004. Despite his term being extended twice and talk about his impending retirement already floating on campus, the news has shocked many. Prof. Parsuraman remained unavailable for comment despite attempts.

A student said, "For the last one month, there have been discussions on prof. Parsuraman's retirement. However, when the news came on Monday, it still was sudden for a lot of people, especially students. Speculations on who will be next and how much political intervention or involvement will be there in finalising the new chief are on, which might lead to unrest on campus."

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