The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry, which has been left red-faced after protests erupted at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune over actor and BJP member Gajendra Chauhan’s appointment to a crucial post, is considering setting up a committee to hold talks with the protesting students. “A committee could be set up soon to talk to the protesting students to sort out the issues,” said a source in the I&B Ministry. For the last four days, students of the FTII have held protests and boycotted classes over Chauhan’s appointment as the new chairman of FTII’s governing council. [related-post] The ministry, sources added, was also mulling nominating one of the eminent faces from the newly-constituted FTII society as the vice-president. “Appointing an eminent person as vice-president, who could be the de facto day to day in-charge at the institute, is one of the suggestions on the table to end this impasse,” the source added. While the I&B Ministry had shortlisted prominent names like Gulzar, Shyam Benegal and Adoor Gopalakrishnan for the FTII top job, Chauhan — best known for playing Yudhishthir in television series Mahabharat — was finally selected for the post. His appointment has sparked off strong protests at the institute, with many questioning his credentials and calling this a “political” choice. The students, in a letter to the Ministry Monday, have sought the intervention of I&B Minister Arun Jaitley in the matter.
