Govt wants FTII to postpone new academic session

Film industry and not govt should run the institute, say I&B Ministry sources

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry might ask Pune based Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) to postpone its fresh academic session.

Classes are currently suspended at the FTII with students on strike to protest the appointment of actor Gajendra Chauhan as its new chairman. The ministry has refused to talk with students unless they go back to their classes.

Putting in abeyance the fresh session would mean the new batch will have to cool their heels until the existing batch graduates from the institute, and that would necessarily need the students to call off their strike. According to sources, there are students from even older batches dating back to 2010 who are yet to graduate from the institute.

Sources in the ministry concede that Chauhan might not have been the most suitable of appointments but say they had few options at hand. The ministry is adamant that Chauhan will stay. The FTII students’ body has decided to continue with the strike and organise a protest in New Delhi on August 3 as Parliament is currently in session.

Today (Thursday) is the 42nd day of the strike. Ministry sources said this was the 39th strike in the 55-year history of FTII and several of these strikes have lasted over 200 days. The last convocation was 17 years back when veteran actor Dilip Kumar was invited. The thespian was hooted and swore never to return to the institute.

The strike, however, could hurt the long term interests of the institution. The dominant view in the central government is that the institute has for long relied on the largesse of the taxpayers’ money without contributing much in terms of producing quality talent. Newer and professionally run institutes like the Kolkata based Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute as well Jamia Milia Islamia’s Mass Communication Research Centre in Delhi have created a better talent pool, ministry sources said.

Leading voices in the government believe that it wasn’t the State’s job to spend taxpayers’ money for the training of actors and film technicians. Instead, the film industry should take over the responsibility of running the institute. The Centre on average spends nearly Rs 1.3 million to train each student at FTII.  

The FTII is an autonomous body under the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. Its policies are determined by a Governing Council.