TISS to open campus in Guwahati this year….Charu Sudan Kasturi
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has approved the launch in 2011 of a Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) campus in Guwahati, setting the stage for the premier institution’s first venture outside Maharashtra.
The UGC approved the proposal at its latest meeting earlier this month, sanctioning the launch of the campus from the coming academic session, sources told HT.
We are now ready to take TISS to the north-east, where we have a massive demand.
This is a huge step in the growth and expansion of our institution, a senior TISS administrator said. The Mumbai-based TISS had last year approached the human resource development (HRD) ministry with proposals to launch campuses in Guwahati and Hyderabad, following requests from the governments of Assam and Andhra Pradesh.
HRD minister Kapil Sibal had approved the proposals in principle, and TISS has since been trying to finalise plans for an early launch of the Guwahati campus.
TISS is India’s oldest school of modern social work, and was started in Mumbai in 1936, expanding in recent years to a campus in Tuljapur -also in Maharashtra. A UGC team scrutinised the TISS preparation and readiness for the launch of the new campus and the commission concluded at its February meeting that the Institute was ready for expansion, sources said.
TISS a deemed university is completely funded by the UGC.
The Guwahati campus will offer programmes with 70% seats reserved for students from the north-east.
The Assam government has allotted 15 acres of land for the campus. The ministry for development of the north-eastern region will fund the development of the campus.
New Move
* Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) is India’s oldest school of modern social work
* TISS was started in Mumbai in 1936, expanding in recent years to a campus in Tuljapur — also in Maharashtra.
* In 2010, TISS had approached the HRD ministry with proposals to launch campuses in Guwahati and Hyderabad.