FTII students to continue their agitation

PUNE: The students’ association of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) on Saturday said they will continue their protest against the appointment of actor Gajendra Chauhan as the chairperson of the FTII society.
“Our discussions with the delegation members are still on. All we can say right now is that the strike will continue,” said Ranjit Nair, member of the students’ association.
After Friday’s meeting with the ministry of information and broadcasting in New Delhi, the students refused to talk to the media on Saturday and said they were taking a day “to chart out their way ahead”.
Some members of the delegation which met I&B minister Arun Jaitley and the joint secretary (films) returned to the Pune campus around 10am on Saturday. These include alumni Fareeda Mehta, Prateek Vats, Paresh Kamdar and Dharam Gulati, as well as student representatives such as FTII students’ association president Harishankar Nachimuthu, cinematography student Vikas Urs and editing student Reema Kaur.
The discussion between the students and the delegation members began around noon and went on till late in the night.
On Friday, the I&B ministry refused to revoke the appointment of actor and BJP leader Gajendra Chauhan as the chairperson of the FTII society. Academy Award winner Resul Pookutty, who led the delegation along with filmmaker Girish Kasaravalli, had said, “The talks with Jaitley were positive, but the core issues for which the students are on strike have not been addressed satisfactorily.”
The delegation had put forward five issues for the ministry’s consideration — revoking Chauhan’s appointment, dissolving the current FTII society, reconstituting a new one, appointing an interim committee to conduct the selection process for the society and the governing council, and granting the film institute the status of centre of national excellence.
“We have heard all the demands of the students and have assured them full support and cooperation where their academic issues are concerned. We will grant status of centre of national excellence to FTII, Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute and the Indian Institute of Mass Communication very soon. We have been working on this for the past seven months,” a source in the ministry had said.