Next round of FTII talks in Delhi on October 20

PUNE: Fresh talks to end the over 100 day impasse at FTII will be held next week when a delegation of the students protesting against the appointment of actor Gajendra Chauhan as Institute Chairman will meet MoS for Information and Broadcasting in Delhi.

Ranajit Nair, a representative of the FTII Students' Association (FSA), which had three round of talks with the I&B ministry officials in Mumbai early this month, said a meeting of the FSA with the MoS (Rathore) would be held in Delhi on October 20.

The venue and time of the meeting will be communicated later, he added.

The students have been boycotting classes since June 12 opposing appointment of Chauhan who, they claim lacks credentials to head the FTII.

The ministry has, however, cold-shouldered the main demand of the FSA for cancellation of Chauhan's appointment while keeping the dialogue channel open to resolve the prolonged deadlock that has brought academic activity on the campus to a standstill.

On Tuesday, a court here had rejected a plea for anticipatory bail by 12 FTII students booked for hooliganism during the August 18 incident of gherao of the institute director Prashant Pathrabe, who had alleged "mental torture and manhandling" by them.