Chauhan meets Rathore

Amid a row over his appointment as chairman of governing council of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Gajendra Chauhan today met Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore.
I&B ministry officials, however, did not give details about the meeting saying it was "general" in nature but added that the ministry is open to a dialogue to end the impasse though it is important that students should have an agenda that addresses the systemic issues.
"He was here in Delhi, so he decided to meet the minister," an official source said, adding that the meeting at Shastri Bhawan lasted nearly 15 minutes.

The source said that the ministry is open to having talks with students but their agenda should address systemic issues, adding that hard positions are not conducive to finding solutions.
The ministry is concerned that academic activity in the institute has been stalled, an official said.
The priority is FTII as an institute and not just one batch, the official added.

The students strike at FTII over Chauhan's appointment entered the 88th day today.
There were reports that in talks with students earlier, government was willing for a compromise formula with Chauhan being the chairman of the Governing Council and filmmaker Raju Hirani head of the council responsible for decisions on academics. The compromise formula, however, did not work out. Ministry officials also did not confirm these reports.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court today declined to entertain a PIL seeking its intervention to end the ongoing stir at FTII opposing the appointment of Chauhan.