This story is from October 18, 2017

'If FTII has a chairman, why does SRFTI still not have one?'

'If FTII has a chairman, why does SRFTI still not have one?'
KOLKATA: With tension still not resolved on Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) campus, many insist that the institute is facing the brunt of having three key administrative posts – chairman, registrar and administrative officer - lying vacant.
Tension on campus continued on Wednesday when students gheraoed the director for five hours. The institute’s director, Debamitra Mitra, refused to change her stand on hostel segregation and expulsion of 14 students.
On Tuesday, SRFTI alumni – film-maker Sagar Ballary of ‘Bheja Fry‘ fame – wrote a Facebook post stating: “SRFTI students grow up! The prospectus does not mention a mixed hostel and the institute has every right to keep separate men and women’s hostel especially in lieu of past circumstances! I don’t think this is moral policing but just enforcement of rules! There must be a separate women’s hostel for a girl to have her space in case she does not want to have men around her living space and vice versa! After all in the past men have not behaved themselves at the campus! Don't make a non-issue an issue and tag everybody from FTII to JNU to other universities! This agitation of yours will not go viral!”
On Wednesday night, the students released a press statement saying: “We are still in a state of lockdown here and a peaceful protest has been taking place while we are being threatened with witch hunts and presence of police at the gate. The Director has refused to initiate any dialogue with us now or in the immediate future. The 14 students stand rusticated while 10 others have been suspended and have FIRs lodged against them. There is clear diversion tactic the Director is using by enforcing segregation dictatorially to shift attention from the numerous issues such as basic living conditions and academic projects that have been raised time and again by the student community. It is our demand that the rustication and suspension be revoked with immediate effect and a democratic course of dialogue be opened to address our immediate needs that have been ignored ever since the Director has taken charge at the institute. Only at the end of the day she agreed to talk to the representatives on Friday the result of which we are highly sceptical about.”
Mitra, on her part, said, “I am always ready to have a dialogue with the students. But we are not willing to change our stand on hostel segregation and expulsion of the 14 students.”
While the scenario on campus is still volatile, many are wondering if the situation would have been handled in a different way had the key administrative posts not been vacant for so long. Unlike Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), SRFTI currently doesn’t have a chairman. In the absence of the chairperson, the only place where students can escalate their problems is to the director.
The former chairman of SRFTI – Dr Partho Ghosh – retired in August last year. Gajendra Chauhan’s term at FTII had ended on March 3 this year. While
Anupam Kher has already joined as the chairperson of FTII, SRFTI is still waiting for someone to step into Ghosh’s shoes. The absence of a permanent director is crucial when the institute is facing such problems with student agitations happening on regular intervals. Every time SRFTI has a governing council meeting, someone has to be nominated from outside to chair it.
After Ghosh left the institute, there were talks of actor Victor Banerjee being appointed in that post. However, Banerjee hadn’t agreed to take up this assignment. “Since he spends most of the time of the year outside Kolkata, he didn’t agree,” said a well-placed source.
Some months back, film-maker Ashoke Viswanathan was appointed as the dean of academics. However, currently he is on leave and his duties are being discharged by another faculty member – Debasish Ghoshal. BDM Ambedkar, who was given the additional charge of acting as the registrar of SRFTI, is no longer there. Some time back, students had demanded his resignation after alleging that he had passed sexist remarks. On September 5, Ambedkar had sent a letter to Mitra stating: “Please refer to my request pertaining to my absence from my additional responsibilities from 06-09-2017. Hence, I have to settle my pension papers at an early date, I may not be in a position to spare much time on campus.” Currently, Shantanu Basu Mullick from the purchase department of SRFTI is functioning as the registrar in charge. The administrative officer Sudhin Banerjee has gone elsewhere on deputation. Kalyan Pal is now functioning as the administrative officer in charge. “Three important posts are laying vacant with others trying to manage the scene. Despite their good intentions, the situation is often going out of hand. With adequate administrative support, the director is left all alone to trouble-shoot. This is seriously affecting the functioning of the institute and the ministry needs to look into this matter on an urgent basis,” said a source.
When TOI asked Mitra about these vacant posts, she said, “We definitely require a permanent chairman. Hopefully, we will get a full-fledged registrar too.”
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About the Author
Priyanka Dasgupta

Priyanka Dasgupta is the features editor of TOI Kolkata. She has over 20 years of experience in covering entertainment, art and culture. She describes herself as sensitive yet hard-hitting, objective yet passionate. Her hobbies include watching cinema, listening to music, travelling, archiving and gardening.

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