With no end in sight for the ongoing agitation by its students against the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as the chairman of its Governing Council, the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) on Thursday issued notices to 13 students who have been overstaying at the hostels even after completion of their courses.
Confirming that the notices had been served to 13 students overstaying in the film institute’s hostel, an FTII spokesperson said: “The FTII hostel rules forbid the students from overstaying except when permission is taken from the Regsitrar or the Director. These 13 students have to vacate the rooms with immediate effect”. The spokesperson said that after the word about their impending eviction spread, some students had vacated their hostel rooms during the last 24 hours.
Though overstaying in its hostels was a common feature till recently, the FTII’s latest move to act sternly against the ex-students over-staying in the hotels is to send to a message to the agitating students that it would not brook indiscipline any longer. The strike by FTII students, demanding the revocation of Chauhan’s appointment as the chairman and dissolution of the governing council of the institute, entered 42 nd day on Thursday.
In a related development, an employee of the FTII, Sanjay Chandekar has registered a complaint with the Pune police against some of the agitating students for allegedly threatening him. Chandekar, who works with Community radio section of the FTII, alleged in his complaint lodged with police that after he and other employees had criticised the agitating students, some of the students had threatened him.