FTII Itanagar students boycott semester over incomplete campus, poor facilities

Itanagar, Dec 9: Students of Screen Acting and Documentary Cinema at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Itanagar have refused to begin their second semester classes, citing severe infrastructural shortcomings and an academically unfit learning environment.

FTII Itanagar is India’s third national film institute and was launched with the promise of world-class facilities.

However, students allege that they were made to attend classes in an unfinished campus, lacking basic infrastructure such as functional studios, a preview theatre, a sound studio, adequate cameras, proper classrooms, and reliable medical support.

According to the students, multiple representations were submitted to Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) Kolkata and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) as early as December 2024, highlighting the adverse academic conditions.

They also undertook two academic halts in March and May 2025, but resumed classes each time following assurances that infrastructure would improve – which, they say, did not happen.

Students further claimed that all construction and development work came to a complete halt after classes resumed in August 2025.

They added that recent RTI responses and official communications between SRFTI and the Ministry have now acknowledged that the campus is incomplete and unfit to admit new students in 2025, with fresh admissions reportedly put on hold due to lack of infrastructure.

“This raises a serious question. If the campus is officially unfit today, why were we admitted last year when conditions were even worse?” a student representative said.

The students also attempted to meet senior officials from I&B Ministry during the IFFI Goa event but claimed that their request for a formal interaction was ignored.