NEW DELHI/ PUNE: As the student protest over the appointment of TV actor Gajendra Chauhan as FTII governing council chairman entered its 57th day on Friday, the institute’s administration directed 30 students, mostly from the 2008 batch, to vacate their hostel rooms or pay a fine of Rs 500 per day.

The administration also directed 50 students of the batch to complete their pending diploma film projects before August 10.

The students’ association responded with a letter to FTII director Prashant Pathrabe in which it described these decisions as “tactics” to “arm-twist” agitating students, with a view to reduce the strength of strikers.

Pathrabe himself termed the directive “administrative decisions”, and said the 2008 backlog “brings disrepute” to the institute. “They have been here for seven years and have still not completed their diploma films. Their projects will now be assessed on an as-is-where-is basis,” he said.

Meanwhile, FTII students said they were in touch with institutions like DU, JNU, Jamia Millia Islamia, and IIMs regarding their protest.

