Fresh meeting to bring an end to FTII deadlock today

In a fresh bid to end the four-month-long strike at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), a key meeting will be held between the government and the agitating students of the the Pune-based institute on Tuesday.

The meeting between Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and the protesters follows several rounds of meetings held between the students and the ministry officials.

With both sides not budging, the FTII impasse has been lingering on. While the students have been demanding removal of actor Gajendra Chauhan as the head of the FTII council, the government has rejected it outright.

In the last meeting between the two sides on October 10 in Mumbai, it was decided that the students will meet Rathore in the next meeting which is likely to be held here at noon time. Meanwhile, The Bombay High Court has issued notice to the I&B and Home ministries, the Maharashtra government and student leader of FTII on a PIL seeking to put an end to the ongoing strike at the institute.