FTII row: Striking students ready for talks with Centre today

Pune/New Delhi: Possibility of a fresh round of talks between the Centre and striking FTII students brightened on Tuesday with the protesters saying they were ready to meet Information and Broadcasting Ministry officials at the institute's campus on Wednesday.

The ministry had asked the students' body to suggest a date for a dialogue with them to call off the strike, which entered the 104th day today, bringing academic activity on the campus to a standstill.

"We received a letter from the Ministry (Information and Broadcasting) asking us to suggest a date for the meeting. They proposed us to call off the strike and have a dialogue," Yashasvi Mishra, a representative of the FTII Students' Association (FSA), said.

The FSA, which has demanded removal of TV actor and BJP member Gajendra Chauhan from the institute's chairmanship, in its reply urged the ministry to convene a meeting tomorrow itself considering the hunger strike launched by a few students.

"We replied to the letter, clearly expressing our serious concerns regarding the students on hunger strike and urged the government to get this meeting organised at the earliest. We have stated that the onus to help us call off the strike by resolving the issues lies with the government. We have urged the ministry to meet us at FTII campus tomorrow (September 23) in the light of the gravity of the hunger strike," the FSA said in a statement yesterday.

Meanwhile, a source in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry said that there is a "likelihood that the meeting could be held at a place other than Delhi or Pune, though a decision is yet to be taken".

The students have been boycotting classes since June 12 and continuing their strike after failure of the July 3 first round of talks with the Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley in Delhi.

Apart from Chauhan's removal, they also demand "transparent mechanism" to appoint deserving persons to the FTII governing body.

The strike acquired a political dimension with Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi visiting the students and supporting the agitation. Several film personalities have also extended their support to the students.