Nine Censor board members quit following Leela Samson, cite lack of autonomy

Pointing out that no funds have been released for conducting orientation workshops for the panel members, these nine board members have said that “officers from other departments, who have no understanding or experience in cinema are appointed as officials”. “Furthermore, there are several positions in the regional offices that do not have regular appointments There has been no Board meeting for the last one year for us to discuss developments and make recommendations, as we were told that there are no funds to organize it! It seems that the CBFC Board is not required at all,” the joint resignation letter states.

Amidst indications that a few more board members may resign shortly, the government continued to stand by its stance of questioning the “timing of these resignations” arguing that the Chairperson and the Members were anyways on their way out. “The term of this Board got over long back. All of them had been given an extension till a new Board was constituted. It is surprising that they have chosen to raise all these issues when they are on their way out,” top government sources said. Top I&B ministry officials also added that the delay in constituting a new Censor Board had happened mainly because of the “due diligence” that was being exercised to choose the right people for the job. They added that a new Censor Board will be put in place soon.

Meanwhile, the joint resignation letter goes on to add that “this Board has consistently attempted to make the certification process more uniform, transparent, consistent and sensitive to the freedom of filmmakers’ right to expression with responsibility. The struggle to do so has been extremely frustrating and disappointing”.

These board members have also objected to the way in which Samson “has been treated by the Ministry” which they have said “has been humiliating for us all”. “This is not the way in which the head of an organization ought to be treated, and it is certainly not one that is conducive to any productive relationship,” the letter states.

Calling the events leading to Samson’s resignation as “merely the proverbial last straw”, these nine board members have stated that ever since they took charge of their posts, they “have been asking for some critical changes, which are imperative if the functioning of the CBFC has to be reformed”.

“However, in spite of sending numerous recommendations and appeals, and having several meetings with the Secretaries and senior officials of the ministry, and even one with an earlier Minister, not a single positive step has been taken by the Ministry,” these board members have stated.

They have also said that the they had also sent a letter to the then I&B Minister in December 2013 “making several recommendations that would strengthen CBFC as an institution” and that they “were willing to work on with the government”. “None of the recommendations that we made in that letter have been taken on board, and there has been no engagement with us on crucial issues that we were raising,” these board members have written, adding that they hope that “the new Board will find the government more responsive than we have”.