Governing body okays experts' suggestions

PUNE: Clearing the backlog of students, reconstructing the main theatre and restructuring the courses were some of the recommendations made by the group of experts (GoE) that were considered at the governing council (GC) meeting of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) on Wednesday.
"We have proposed a budget of Rs 200 crore for the FTII's upgradation.The council has approved our recommendations. We have been asked to prepare a final draft with priority recommendations in the first phase. We will send the draft to the Planning Commission by the month-end," said P K Nair, who heads the GoE that was constituted last year to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for the FTII's upgradation.
The members of the GoE have recommended a budget of Rs 4.5 crore to clear the backlog of students at the institute. "Around Rs 30 crore has been proposed for reconstruction of the main theatre that will be upgraded with state-of-the-art acoustics. We've also requested two additional classrooms on the top floor of the television building. Also on our list of priorities
will be renovation of stage number one at the FTII's Law College Road campus and a new studio on the Kothrud campus. The new campus will also have hostel buildings," Nair said.
"We hope to get a green signal from the Planning Commission by September," Nair added.
Appointing mentors to guide the students, and a foundation year common to all courses have also been recommended. Moving away from the conventional structure of the courses at the FTII, the GoE has also suggested credit system for courses.
"The foundation year will comprise modules in traditional Indian literature, social studies and exercises on usage of the body and mind to understand cinema and art. We've also thought of having parity in the duration of each course.
We've suggested a centralised approach to usage of equipment - a common technical department wherein equipment required by all the departments will be used. This will allow faster availability of equipment for students'projects and facilitate better coordination among various departments," a source from the GoE said, on condition of anonymity.
FTII's interim director Iftekhar Ahmed said that the recommendations will be implemented in phases. "We will be having many more meetings, the next one being with the faculty and alumni, to get their suggestions and recommendations that will be included in the DPR. We plan to get approvals for recommendations that need implementation in the current financial year as well as during the 12{+t}{+h} and the 13{+t}{+h} five-year plans," he said.
Another source at the institute said a letter has been sent to the ministry of information and broadcasting to reconstitute the governing council to include FTII staff, teachers and students as members.