At FTII, overstaying students likely to get marching orders

The FTII decision follows Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore’s written reply in the Rajya Sabha Tuesday.

In his reply, Rathore said, “There are concerns about non-completion of courses in time, no intake for some years due to backlog and overstay of students in the hostels even after completion of their course, repeated agitations on any attempt to introduce administrative and academic restructuring so as to foster academic discipline in the campus.”

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Rathore said a 2008 batch was still pursuing a three-year course at the institute. The institute has also not held its convocation since 1997.

The FTII administration said it was trying to ascertain the facts behind the overstay issue. “As per initial information, there are different reasons. One relates to non-completion of the projects without which the students do not get their degrees. We will also find out whether there are reasons like infrastructure problems that prevented students from completing their courses,” said FTII Director Prashant Pathrabe.

Once the reasons are traced, Pathrabe said, the institute would issue notices to these students. “The overstaying students will face action,” said Pathrabe. They may be asked to vacate the hostel.

The FTII administration said the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting was keen to end the current agitation by students against the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as president of the institute. “The minister called up and expressed his desire to have a quick solution to the current agitation. He said the students were part of FTII family and we should all make efforts for a peaceful end to the strike. The minister expressed his desire to continue to hold dialogue with the students,” said Pathrabe.

He added that the minister spoke about the need to provide the requisite infrastructure facilities and sought details about them.

The FTII administration said it was still contemplating action regarding temporary closure or rustication of students if the strike did not end. “Though we had planned such a move, we have not initiated any such action so far… We are hopeful the strike would end any day now and we would be able to make a fresh beginning.”

Meanwhile, Chauhan said he was not visiting the FTII until the ministry gave him a green signal. When he was asked about the invitation extended by the FTII administration to hold a dialogue with the students on the campus, Chauhan said he had not received any such invitation so far. Asked if he would visit FTII if invited, Chauhan said, “If the I&B ministry tells me, I would visit.”

For the past few days, Chauhan has been refusing to say anything against those opposing his appointment. The administration, however, feels his visit would help break the ice.