TISS Appoints Professor Manoj Tiwari as Acting Director after Professor Shalini Bharat Completes Term

New Delhi: Professor Shalini Bharat has concluded her five-year tenure as the Director of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). Her last day of service at the institute, located in Mumbai's Deonar area, was on September 25, 2023. 

To bridge the transition, Professor Manoj Tiwari, the Director of the Indian Institute of Management, IIM Mumbai, has been entrusted with the additional responsibility of serving as the Acting Director of TISS faculty until a new full-time director is appointed.

This upcoming appointment will mark the inaugural selection made under the revised regulations of the University Grants Commission (UGC), which now subject TISS to the central government's oversight in appointments. This change also applies to other deemed-to-be-universities that receive more than 50 percent of their funding from the Central government.

According to the latest reports, Professor Bharat expressed on her retirement that she was honored and privileged to have served the institution as Director, having initially joined as a lecturer in the year 1984. 

She mentioned that it had given her a great sense of achievement. Professor Bharat further shared that, with the conclusion of her term, she was retiring from the institute, marking the end of her fulfilling association of nearly four decades.

Professor Shalini Bharat assumed the role of Director of the Institute in September 2018 following the retirement of Professor S Parsuraman in February of that year. Initially, she served as the acting director during the seven months following her predecessor's retirement, until she was officially appointed as the full-time Director.

In response to inquiries regarding an extension of her service at TISS, Professor Bharat clarified that there was no such extension, and she expressed her intention to pursue research endeavors on other platforms. She highlighted that there are no boundaries when it comes to the pursuit of research.

Professor Bharat is renowned for her extensive contributions in various domains, including equity and access issues related to reproductive and women's health, the social determinants of HIV and TB, encompassing aspects of stigma, discrimination, and human rights. 

Her expertise also extends to multi-purpose prevention technologies for addressing the HIV epidemic, self-testing for HIV prevention, the health and wellbeing of young people, family studies and child adoption, the intersection of women, work, and family, as well as the demography of the Indian Parsi community.

Furthermore, Professor Bharat actively participates as a member in numerous national scientific advisory committees and boards, engaging in a wide spectrum of national-level programs, schemes, policies, and field interventions spanning health, public health, social development, gender, HIV/AIDS, TB prevention, and more.

As Per the revised UGC regulations, the sponsoring body, in the case of TISS, chaired by Tata Trust representatives, will no longer have the ultimate decision-making authority.

Earlier, in the appointment of the director, the governing body, led by the sponsoring body, would establish a selection committee that included a UGC nominee. Under the new regulations, the governing council will be substituted by an executive council, with the government-appointed Vice-Chancellor serving as the chairperson.

Read More: 

• TISS Placements 2023 

• TISS Cutoff 2023 

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