FTII students meet I&B officials, no end to impasse

Agitating students of FTII today held another meeting with senior Information and Broadcasting Ministry officials but no decision was reached on ending the strike which entered the 56th day.

"Today, the representatives of the students of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) met the Joint Secretary to reiterate their concerns about the ensuing crisis and keenness to arrive at a solution to end the impasse," the students association said in a statement here.

The ministry officials, they said, responded to the issues and also communicated their own concerns about the current situation in the brief meeting.

Sources said that some students had interacted with Joint Secretary K Sanjay Murthy in the I&B ministry.

The students, who were in Delhi, said they will now go back to Pune and discuss how to take things ahead with the entire student community.

The students are seeking the removal of actor Gajendra Chauhan, who was appointed as the institute's chairman by the government in June.

A panel of students and alumni of the FTII also had an interactive session with intellectuals, cultural activists, journalists and students here, they added.

In the statement, the FTII students also claimed that some friends were questioned by the police in civil dress before entering the premises of the institute.

The police deployment around the campus in Pune and monitoring of their activities continues to be as a worrying signal for a campus of students that has not resorted to any form of violence or vandalism, they said.