Govt asks FTII students to resume classes, not block academic activities

Pune: Asking protesting FTII students to resume classes and not block academic activities, the government on Thursday said it is willing to continue discussions with them to end the stalemate.

"I think it is in the interest of the students that if they have a viewpoint, which they have, they must not block the classes for it. They must allow the classes to go on. And a group of students is always welcome to continue discussions with us," Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore said.

He said that the ministry's priority is to resolve the ongoing agitation at FTII, where students have boycotted classes protesting the appointment of actor Gajendra Chauhan as the chairman of the institute's governing council.

"They are students and our intention is to strengthen the FTII, administratively, academically, infrastructurally," he told reporters on the sidelines of an event organised by Prasar Bharati on the occassion of Indian Broadcasting Day.