NAHARLAGUN, 23 May: Taking serious note of the grievances being faced by the students of the FTI in Jote, Papum Pare DC Jiken Bomjen on Friday convened a meeting at the conference hall of the Directorate of Information and Public Relations here with all the stakeholders to look into the issues.
During the meeting, Executive Engineer (Electrical) Rajesh Dawe informed that the Power Department has signed a no-objection certificate with the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Jote to share its express line with the Film & Television Institute (FTI) for one year to ensure that there are no frequent power cuts at the institute.
The EE, however, advised the institute to apply for an express line of its own for seamless power supply.
The DC directed Sangdupota CO Limpi Rallen to look after the law and order situation at the FTI. He proposed the creation of an ex-officio post for the Papum Pare DC, so that the DC can be held accountable and responsible for the local matters related to the FTI. He also proposed appointing a public relations officer for the FTI to liaise with the locals, various departments, including the CPWD. He further suggested having a legal standing counsel for the FTI to look after the legal matters of the FTI.
The DC also urged the executive engineer of the PHE Department to come up with a temporary solution to deal with the falling debris from the water treatment plant(WTP) at the FTI. Debris from the construction site of the WTP has been blocking the road in the campus between the residential area and classrooms, making it difficult for the students to commute every day.
CPWD Executive Engineer Devesh Budhani assured that the CRT building, which houses the classroom theatre and performance labs, will be handed over by 31 May. He also assured that the girls’ hostel will be ready and handed over by 15 June.
“Once done, the next priority will be sound studio and preview theatre,” he added.
Chief academic coordinator of the FTI, Bishnu Dev Halder apprised the members of the actual problems being faced by the residents in the campus. He said that daily activities are being affected because of lack of clean water and electricity and because of bad roads, which have been a triggering point for the students.
PHED Executive Engineer Ngurang Niya informed that the construction of the WTP at the FTI is “70 to 80% complete,” and that a temporarily lift water system is in place. He also informed that the early advent of monsoon has affected the work on the WTP and water supply.
Earlier, Information and Public Relations Director Gijum Tali expressed disappointment over the slow progress of works executed by the CPWD and called for better coordination between the SRFTI, the CPWD, and the contractors.
The meeting was attended also by the FTI deputy registrar, the Sangdupota CO, RWD assistant engineer, and others.
The students of the FTI are on an indefinite academic strike, alleging administrative apathy and broken promises regarding basic infrastructural and academic necessities. The students have been raising concerns over inadequate classroom facilities and curriculum infrastructure for the past few months. The institute lacks proper power and water connections. The FTI also does not have a full-time director and is currently being managed by officials from the Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute, Kolkata, which has further complicated the situation. (DIPR)
