NEW DELHI: The Information and Broadcasting Ministry on Friday gave temporary charge of Director of the faction ridden Pune-based Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) to Prashant Pathrabe, a 1992 batch official of the Indian Information Service.
Incumbent director D J Narain’s term is scheduled to end this week. Presently, Pathrabe is Director of Press Information Bureau unit in Pune. He said that he has been given the additional charge in a difficult situation. “I hope to do the best,” Pathrabe, an MBA from IIM-Ahmedabad, said. His appointment as Director of FTII comes when the institute is at the centre of a major controversy, with students boycotting classes after the government announced its decision to appoint TV actor Gajendra Chauhan as the head of its governing council. The FTII administration too has taken a tough stand, urging the students to resume academic activities or else face action, including rustication.