Mumbai: The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) abruptly postponed its 86th annual convocation, scheduled to be held on Sunday, Aug 2. In an email sent to students after midnight on Thursday, at around 12.50 am, TISS said that the convocation, had been postponed due to ‘unforeseen circumstances’. Hundreds of students who had travelled to Mumbai, or were on their way to the city with their parents and relatives, were upset about the financial losses they incurred on travel and accommodation in Mumbai. Many travelled from other parts of the country and had already made arrangements to stay here for a couple of days. Some had to take leaves from their workplace for the convocation ceremony.CJI Justice Surya Kant was the chief guest at the event and acting chief justice, Bombay High Court, Justice Ravindra Ghuge, was the distinguished guest at the event.The institute expressed regret over the decision in the mail and added that “it understood the importance of the occasion for students and their families and appreciated their understanding and patience as it worked through the situation”. It added that a revised date and further details would be shared at the earliest. While the TISS administration did not respond to messages from TOI, the registrar, in the mail to the graduating students, apologised for the inconvenience.Students, however, said that the last-minute communication had caused considerable inconvenience. “I was in Mumbai for work, but my parents travelled all the way from my native town, spent several thousands for travel and accommodation here. It was a big day for us. TISS is a prestigious institution and to secure admission here and then graduating after two years was sort of an achievement. We were all looking forward to the ceremony, but the institute abruptly postponed it,” said one student.Another student pointed out that several students from the graduating batch were yet to be placed and, therefore, the cancellation could cause an even more severe and unnecessary financial loss for them and their families.”Some of our professors did not know about the postponement till the mail was sent out after midnight. Our mails and messages to the TISS administration has not yielded any response. A group of students were planning to seek the final semester marksheets and convocation degrees without the ceremony. Not many of us, obviously, can afford travelling again on a later date,” said the student. For the students who were to travel on Friday and Saturday, the ticket-cancellation costs were high too. Another student pointed out that the students were not even officially informed who the guests were at the event.
