FTII row: Next meeting shifted to Mumbai on October 7

The third round of meeting to break the deadlock between agitating FTII students and information and broadcasting ministry officials, which was supposed to be held here on October 6, will now be held in Mumbai on the next day (October 7).

The last meeting held in Mumbai on Thursday remained "inconclusive" with both the parties failing to resolve the row over the appointment of actor and BJP member Gajendra Chauhan as the chairman of the Pune-based Film and Television Institute of India (FTII).

Ranjit Nair, a member of the striking FTII students' core committee, confirmed the news.

"The meeting has been rescheduled as the (information and broadcasting) secretary has prior commitment in Mumbai," Nair told IANS in a text message.

Over 250 FTII students have been on a strike for over the last three months as they find the appointment of Chauhan, best known for essaying the eldest Pandava brother Yudhisthir in B.R. Chopra's "Mahabharat", as the institute chairman questionable.

No concrete solution to the issue has been found either by the students or by the government, and the deadlock continues.