A group of experts entrusted with the task of preparing a detailed report on upgradation of Film and Television Institute of India has recommended that the school should hold back fresh admissions till the current backlog of academic and project work is cleared.
A group of experts entrusted with the task of preparing a detailed report on revitalisation and upgradation of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) has recommended that the country's premier movie school should hold back fresh admissions till the current backlog of academic and project work is cleared.
The panel has said the government should set aside a budget of Rs 5 crore to clear the backlog which has accumulated since 2005.
Talking to Press Trust of India, PK Nair, chairman of the group, said the amount should be utilised to procure equipment and appoint personnel like supervisors and mentors to guide the students to pass out on scheduled time.
"Manpower should be hired on a contractual basis for a period of 16 months," he said, adding the Pune-based institute needs additional resources to clear the work backlog.
Nair, a former director of National Film Archives of India (NFAI), said FTII had collected fees from students for the academic year 2010, but asked them to wait for ten months for the new classes to begin. "We have suggested that the fresh admissions should not take place for at least a year."
Nair said situation at FTII, an autonomous body under the ministry of information and broadcasting and fully aided by the Centre, started deteriorating since 1997 because the directors "meddled" with the syllabus and followed their own "agendas".
The group, comprising Shaji Karun, Jabeen Merchant, Kundan Shah, Nachiket Patwardhan, Chandita Mukherjee and Hansa Thapliyal, submitted an interim report to the FTII's governing council at a meeting on January 25.
The final report will be ready in one month's time, Nair said.
Panel member Mukherjee said the group was appointed in November 2010 by the governing council, chaired by noted litterateur UR Ananthmurthy.
Mukherjee said given the crisis situation in FTII, suggestions for its privatisation have come from various quarters, including corporates.
She, however, opposed privatisation. "It should not be done. FTII is situated in a prime locality, where the real estate prices are very high. Our report includes an outline of how to remodel the building and space of the campus and to creatively develop an extra 36 acres owned by the institute."
Currently, Mukherjee said, there are five batches on the campus instead of the stipulated three. The normal term of a three-year course gets extended up to six years. "This is causing problem of accommodation for the students who come from all parts of the country."
Lack of faculty, equipment and "uncaring" policy on part of the government is to be blamed for the school's woes, she said. "It's sad the information and broadcasting ministry treats institutes like FTII just as a government department."
Nair said bureaucrats are appointed as short-term directors who are not familiar with the working of the institute, founded in 1960.
Mukherjee said the final report will take into account the changes to be made in the organisational status of FTII for its effective functioning and to strengthen its position as a centre of excellence in the field of cinema and TV.
The governing council will submit the report to the government with its own suggestions.
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