Professor Badri Narayan Tiwari from the GB Pant Social Science Institute, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, was appointed as the Vice Chancellor of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, TISS, in Mumbai. Nearly two years after the institution’s previous full-time head stepped down, Badri was appointed on Wednesday, as per the order issued by the Ministry of Education.

The Centre’s order was followed by an order from the GB Pant Social Science Institute relieving the professor of the charge as its Director, and TISS issued a notification stating that the new Vice Chancellor has assumed charge.

Tiwari is a social historian and cultural anthropologist who will serve as the first Vice Chancellor appointed as per the new regulations that took effect after TISS came under the purview of the central government.

Earlier, the institute was headed by a Director, picked by the governing body appointed by Tata Trust, the organisation that sponsors the educational institute. The governing body then established a selection committee that included a nominee from the UGC or the University Grants Commission.

Previous TISS VC

However, in September 2023, Professor Shalini Bharat stepped down from the post of Vice Chancellor after completing her five-year term. Professor Manoj Kumar Tiwari, the Director of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Mumbai, was then given additional charge as the Vice Chancellor.

It was after this that the new UGC rules were implemented, which stipulated that deemed-to-be universities receiving over 50% of their funding from the government would have their heads appointed by the central government. An executive council has replaced the governing council at TISS, with the Vice Chancellor as its chairperson.

Affiliation with the central government can improve the quality of institutes like TISS, but there is a bigger question lying ahead: Are institutes of higher education losing their autonomy over their own syllabus, governing bodies, and curriculum?