NEW DELHI: The 45 students of the inaugural batch of the Film & Television Institute (FTI) in Arunachal Pradesh, attached to Kolkata’s Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SFRTI), which falls under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, plan to boycott classes yet again.
They withdrew their previous indefinite protest from May 15 following assurances by the Centre that crucial facilities would be made available in the campus by May 31.
With the vacationing students set to return to the campus on August 4 after their monsoon break, they are put-off with the assurances not being honoured.
The Institute in Jollang-Rakap , 24 km from the capital Itanagar offers a 2-year PG Diploma Course with specialisation in Screen Acting, Documentary Cinema and Screen Writing. Classes commenced on March 6, 2025 with just a skeletal structure.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the students said they have been repeatedly following up with the Information and Broadcasting Ministry through mails but were not getting any responses.
“Following our protest in May, the Joint Secretary (Films), Information and Broadcasting Ajay Nagbhushan visited our campus. He assured us the Classroom Theatre and Acting Studio, basic requirements in a film institute would be ready by May 31. The assurances remain unfulfilled,” said a representative of the students. “Only partial interior work has been done. We have not been any commitment regarding any new deadline too,” he pointed out.
Other basic concerns like stable electricity backup, secure campus boundary and a proper road leading from the guest house where the male students are presently staying and the faculty’s accommodation where the women students are housed, remain unfulfilled, said another student. “During the rains in the hilly area, we need to walk through slush for 300 metres to reach the campus,” she explained.
A statement released on behalf of the students said, “The students have collectively resolved that they will not resume academic activities unless the key promised facilities are completed and visibly operational by that time.”
When asked about the issue, a senior official at SFRTI said, “No comments.” No one at the Information and Broadcasting Ministry were ready to speak on it presently.