FTII on boil over I&B’s chosen one as director

As the PMO seems to have displayed a keen interest on matters pertaining to the I&B Ministry, the Students’ Association has thought it fit to serve a notice on the PMO. ‘‘After all, it is the PMO that will give its final assent to the appointment,’’ the students feel.

The notices served on June 21 come in the wake of the ministry settling for Tripurari Sharan, personal secretary to the Minister of State for External Affairs Digvijay Singh, for the director’s post.

While Sharan is yet to be relieved by his parent Bihar cadre, a procedure which ministry officials concede will take time, chairman Ananthamurthy says: ‘‘Students had raised some legal questions about the events surrounding the meeting which I have forwarded to the ministry. I have no preferences but I think the students had raised some legal issues,’’ he said.

The ministry had called for a meeting on March 24 after the Governing Council had forwarded the name of officiating director Prem Matiani as director FTII way back in December. ‘‘We felt there should have been at least three names to choose from,’’ officials said.

It was with this in mind that the ministry had zeroed in on three names — IAS officer Upamanyu Chatterjee, Sharan and Matiani — eventually settling for Sharan. ‘‘We are looking at someone with good management and administrative skills not necessarily someone entrenched in cinema,’’ officials in the ministry said. Sharan is believed to have essayed a two-bit role in a film and has dabbled in script-writing and production.

On the other hand, students’ union members point out that Sharan’s name was forwarded despite a lack of quorum at the Governing Council meeting held on March 24. The meeting was also held in the absence of the officiating director and was attended by four members — chairman, vice-chairman Aruna Raje, an official from the ministry and a Doordarshan official deputing for the director general.

On his part, Matiani, says he has referred the matter to the ministry and is awaiting directions from officials.

The students, meanwhile, have threatened to move court. As to why they are involved in matters purely administrative, members of the students union say they have always acted as a watchdog to the institute.