BENGALURU: There was high drama on the premises of the National School of Drama on Tank Bund Road after students and faculty were evicted and all equipment and materials belonging to the institution thrown out on Wednesday. Officials of Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports (DYES) ordered the move following non-payment of rent dues by the institution. In protest, students staged an overnight dharna outside the centre and alleged that some of the material were damaged in the rain.
The NSD Bengaluru chapter, launched with much fanfare in 2007, became a full-fledged centre only three years ago. DYES alleged that it had given the building on rent to NSD for a three-year period only. Anupam Agarwal, IAS officer and director of DYES, alleged that the school had taken undue advantage of a goodwill gesture. He said the agreement was for them to only use it from 2007 to 2010 until they buil t their own facility. “Even though they have built their campus at Kalagrama, details of which are on their website, they want to use this facility. We ha d earlier sent them 4-5 notices on this.”
DYES’ authorities broke glass panes: NSD director
Students and faculty of National School of Drama, who were evicted from the campus, allege that the Kalagrama facility in the Jnanabharathi campus is not functional yet. They also questioned the rationale behind DYES’ move halfway through their course. NSD conducts a one -year acting course for a 20-student batch, including 10 each from Karnataka and other states.
Suresh Kumar , an artist and visiting faculty of NSD, “This was a shocker. The private security men behave d in an inhumane manner and did not let students to even use rest rooms. Though the department claimed that they had issued a notice we never received it . Archives and equipment were thrown outside the premises.”
C Basavalingaiah, director of the school, said since the institute was shut for the past one week, he hadn’t received the notice, and was ready to pay the dues, amounting to `55,000, the next day.
He said, “We’re now sitting here in the rain like slum dwellers. Even if there are outstanding dues, this is not the way.” He alleged that DYES authorities broke glass panes and doors too. He said talks were also on for the school to get a longer period on lease.
However, Agarwal alleged that the school was hardly conducting plays in the facility. Out of seven rooms, two were being used for accommodation and one was conv erted into a kitchen,he alleged.