FTII Pune students refused to submit assignments until fee hike is rolled back

Director has created a WhatsApp group of their parents to pressurize them. Besides notice have been issued to take disciplinary action against the protesting students.

HIGHLIGHT

• FTII hikes fee by 10 percent every year.
• Annual Fee has increased to Rs 1,18,323 for 2020 from Rs 55, 380 in 2013.
• Entrance examination fee increased from Rs 1500 in 2013 to Rs 10,000 in 2020

The students in prestigious Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) Pune have joined the fight against commercialization of education in the country. They are opposing the annual 10 percent fee hike which has caused about 113 percent hike in the annual fee of the institute since 2013.

Initially four students of the institute - Aadhith V Sathwin, Vivek Allaka, Rajarshi Mujumdar and P R Manikandan – started a hunger strike on Monday to protest the10 per cent annual fee hike and also the Rs 10,000 entrance exam fee. Now, almost all the students have joined the cause by announcing not to submit the assignments required as part of semester examination. Besides, the students of Kolkata-based Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute or SRFTI have also joined the strike in their campus.

Initially the FTII administration tried to pressurize the students by issuing circular and having meeting with their parents but as the protest intensified it has promises to take up the issue in December 27 meeting of the Governing Council. FTII Director Bhupendra Kainthola has reportedly assured the student to raise the issue in the meeting.

Meanwhile, the students have reiterated to continue the hunger strike until their demands are met. There has been a 10 per cent hike in academic fees year-on-year since the batch of 2013. From the annual fee of Rs 55,380 from the 2013 batch, the fees for the upcoming 2020 batch has reached to Rs 1,18,323. In addition, there has been an increase in the JET (Joint Entrance Test for both FTII and Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute's (SRFTI)) application fee. From Rs 1,500 in 2015, the entrance exam fee has gone up to a maximum of Rs10,000 for JET 2020.

The students also allege that the Director has created a WhatsApp group of their parents to pressurize them. Besides, it also issued a circular threatening them with disciplinary action. The students of several institutes and universities in India are protesting against commercialization of education in the country including JNU, IITs Bombay, IIT BHU, IIMC and MANU etc.

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