Awmawmi at TISS

Well, its a really good news for our family when my sister Awmawmi's result finally came out day before yesterday. She got admission in MA in social work (MSW) with specialisation in Psychiatric and Medical Social Work at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Deonar, Mumbai. And more, she got the hostel seat, too. It's all because of God's grace. My mother and brother called up from Aizawl to hear the good news. Wishes came from Marindiki, Nu Thai and Robert, too. Folks in Mumbai like Pu Rinawma, Pi Mawii, Pu Thuama , Pu David, James, Mapuia (Lalthan), etc. called up to wish her on her success. We thanked all of them for their prayer supports.


Now, about the Institute. TISS is one of India's premier educational institutions. It trains professionals in human resources (PMIR is considered one of the best human resources courses in India, considered by many as next to XLRI) and social work (social work course here is also considered as one of the tops, if not the top, in India), carries out research on social problems and social sciences, as well as publishes and disseminates this information for the benefit of society. It is also one of the few institutions in the country which undertakes field projects to demonstrate the workings of organised and systematic welfare measures. Many students who would like to have specialisation in such courses used to appear in the examinations (written& group discussion in the first stage and interview in the second stage) conducted every year. For 2005-07, intake of students are as follows:

MA in Personal Mangement and Industrial relation (PMIR) -31;
MSW (Psychiatric and Medical Social Work )-30;
MSW (Family and Child Welfare)- 28;
MSW (Criminology and Correctional Administration) -19;
Master of Hospital Administration (MHAHO)- 21 (15 are doctors);
Master of Health Administration (MHAHE)- 12 (8 are doctors)

The establishment of this prestigious institute dated back in the 1920s when an American missionary, Dr Clifford Manshardt, pioneered several urban community programmes in the chawls of Bombay near Nagpada. Sir Dorabji Tata supported his initiative and the idea of an institute for social work was born. In 1936, the Dorabji Tata Graduate School of Social Work was established for professional training in social work, in the premises of the Nagpada Neighbourhood House (which was a diploma course). In 1944, it was renamed as Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).

The present campus of the Institute, at Deonar in Mumbai, was opened on October 6, 1954, by the then prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. And In 1964 it was recognised as a deemed university by the University Grants Commission (UGC).