MUMBAI: A three-member team from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting held talks with the agitating students of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) for over two hours on Friday.
Registrar of Newspapers for India S M Khan, who headed the team, would submit its report to the I&B Ministry on Monday.
Khan told reporters that the talks were held in a positive atmosphere. “We also got useful suggestions from the faculty. I hope the deadlock will end soon,” he said.
According to a student present at the meeting, the main focus of discussion was the recent arrest of some agitating students on charges of misbehaviour and also their grievances against the management.
However, core issues of why the students of 2008 batch did not complete their projects in time and why they were staying on the FTII campus even after their course completion were not discussed.
“We are happy that the committee came to understand the ground situation. Till today, they were aware of the issue only through the media. Our interaction was very good. We hope there will be a solution to the impasse soon,” said Vikas Urs, an agitating student.
He said they could not discuss everything due to time constraints.
Meanwhile, the strike against appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as FTII chairman entered the 71st day on Friday.
Vikas, however, said the protest of students was not just against Chauhan. “We want a sea change in the whole appointment process,” he said.