I&B Ministry assures all help to resolve FTII issues

The Information and Broadcasting ministry has assured all support to the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) as it tries to end the impasse at the premier institute, where students are protesting against the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as its chief.
"It is an institute of great repute but there are issues which need to be handled better. The ministry has assured its cooperation to improve the functioning of the institute and make it a national centre of excellence," said a source, privy to the deliberations held yesterday between the government and an FTII delegation.
Top brass of Information and Broadcasting ministry had met the students and alumni members including Oscar-winner Resul Pookutty and filmmaker Girish Kasaravalli of FTII-Pune yesterday and asked them to "get back to class" and allow normal functioning of the institute.

The average cost of education for the FTII students funded by the State, has been in excess of Rs 10 lakh per year per student and it needs to be seen in the context of the commitment of the institution, alumni and students in completing the course in time, the source added.
However, FTII in the past many years has had to financially bear with delayed batches, officials said.
The oldest batch of 2008 is still pursuing their course in the institute which is a cause of concern, sources said.

This issue would have been in the knowledge of past Governing Councils which were headed by many alumni also but it was invariably stuck on the issue of academic restructuring, leading to repeated agitations, they added.

The Geeta Krishnan Report (Expenditure Reforms Commission Report) had recommended that both SRFTI and FTII be handed over to the film industry but the I&B Ministry did not implement this recommendation and has been trying to make them centers of excellence, the sources said.
The issue of the institute not being able to have a convocation since 1997 was another issue of grave concern, they added.
The delegation that met the ministry functionaries yesterday, was assured in no uncertain terms that there would be completely academic independence and no interference of any kind while the ministry would continue to extend all support possible to strengthen the institution, officials said.