FTII students ask I&B ministry for Wednesday meeting

With their strike touching 103 days, students of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) have urged the ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B) to meet them on Wednesday to resolve the ongoing agitation over the appointment of actor and BJP member Gajendra Chauhan as the chairman of the premiere institute.

The FTII students received a letter from the ministry asking them to suggest a date for the meeting to which the students have suggested September 23.

The ministry proposed to the students to call off the strike for a dialogue.

"We have urged the ministry to meet us at the FTII campus tomorrow to resolve the issue, in light of the gravity of the hunger strike with one student sitting for the past 13 days and the situation on the ground," read a statement sent by the Students' Association, FTII.

The students of the Pune-based institute are now sitting on a hunger strike since September 10.

According to the students, Chauhan lacks the credentials for the post of the chairman and that his appointment is politically motivated.