New Delhi, Oct 11 (PTI) Gajendra Chauhan, who will handover the baton of Film and Television Institute of India chiefto Anupam Kher, today said he played a 20/20 match during hisstint at the Pune-based organisation but wished the governmentgave him more time to complete the work he started.
Since his appointment as FTII chairman in June 2015,Chauhan's tenure has been marked by controversies. Soon afterhe was appointed, the students went on a 139-day strikeprotesting against what they perceived was a politically-motivated decision.
He assumed office only in January 2016.
"I have conveyed my best wishes to Anupam ji. I just wishthe government had given me more time to finish the work thatI started. I just had one year and two months to do that," hetold PTI.
"The FTII is facing basic problems and needs a goodadministrator. I am sure Anupam ji will work towards resolvingthese problems," Chauhan added.
The actor, best known for his portrayal of Yudhishthir in"Mahabharat", said the controversy over his appointmentresulted in work piling up.
"Unfortunately, due to the controversy during my tenurethere were a lot of pending issues which piled up. I played a20/20 match and I tried my best to finish the work. My aim wasto restore FTII to its lost glory and I succeeded in it tosome extent.
"The issues that I worked on included finishing ofdiploma courses, increment in the salary of the teachers andimproving the hostel facilities. I could finish some of thesebut few are pending."Chauhan said though the tenure is for three years, it isa block appointment and has retrospective effect.
"Anupam ji was appointed today, but his tenure will becounted from March because it is a block appointment. Mytenure was counted from March 2014, though I was appointed inJune 2015 and then the strike caused a further delay of sevenmonths." PTI BKZMN.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.