Indian Express: Pune: Tuesday,
September 06, 2016.
As per an RTI
reply, Principal Director of Audit (Central) has found irregularities in
admission process, instances of avoidable expenditure, theft and lack of
discipline on campus.
In a draft
inspection report submitted to the institute recently, the Principal Director
of Audit (Central) has pulled up the administration of the Film and Television
Institute of India (FTII) not only for financial mismanagement and failure to
conduct regular admissions and finish courses on time, but also for failing to
maintain “discipline and decorum” at the premier film institute in the country.
Last year,
FTII saw a students’ strike which stretched to full four months following
appointment of TV actor Gajendra Chouhan as president of FTII Society and
chairman of its Governing Council.
The draft
report for the inspection, conducted by a team from PDA (Central) team over a
period of three months between September 26 and December 30 2015, was submitted
to the institute a fortnight ago.
The institute
administration is yet to submit its responses to various objections and
irregularities pointed out by the report which The Indian Express obtained
under Right to Information Act, 2005.
Failure to
enforce discipline and decorum in campus
“The
students’ hand book issued by the institute enumerates rules for discipline and
conduct under para 1 and 12. These rules, inter alia, do not permit absenteeism
from classes, examination and involvement in any unlawful activity as per the
law of the country nor consumption of alcoholic drinks and narcotic drugs,
smoking or getting intoxicated,” reads the inspection report.
The report
then cites incident of students causing damage to institute and consumption of
alcohol on the institute campus. “This shows inability on the part of the
institute administration to enforce discipline and decorum as laid out in the
rules.” It also details the financial loss to the institute due to failure to
collect penalties from the students for overstaying in the hostels.
Irregular
admission process
“No
admissions were conducted for the flagship diploma courses in academic years
2010-11, 2014-15 and also for 2015-16 for film courses. This resulted in
under-utilisation of the available resources. Forgoing the admission process in
an academic year defeats the purpose of setting up of such a prime institute,
in addition to extinguishing the hopes and academic dreams of a large number of
aspiring candidates all over India. Also, this resulted in potential revenue
loss to the extent of Rs 3.27 crore in the form of non-realisation of tuition
fees from candidates who otherwise would have been admitted,” it reads.
Non-completion
of courses in time
Students not
completing their respective courses within the prescribed time schedule have
been mentioned as a perennial lacuna in FTII. 50, 48, 56 and 22 students of
various courses have been treated still as “on roll” and as continuing their
studies even after their prescribed periods are over as on November 2015.
The institute
has not fixed any maximum period in which the students who get admitted had to
complete their courses failing which they would be removed from the roll and
for further pursuance of the course they would have to seek readmission paying
admission fees.
Loss of Rs
3.93 lakh due to theft and missing items
It was
reported by the FTII that a Canon 5D Mark III camera costing Rs 3.61 lakh
disappeared from the TV camera department on October 18, 2014. The institute
did not report this matter to the police for about a month arguing “the
students were away for Diwali vacations”.
“All these
reasons are not tenable as the equipment were costly and of proprietary nature
and the FIR should have been filed immediately. The delay in even filing the
preliminary complaint with the police reveals lethargy and laxity on the part
of the administration,” reads the report.
The report
also takes serious view of loss of two other equipment worth Rs 76,000 from the
TV sound department, an FIR for which was never registered by the
administration.
Purchase
of books and their disappearance
The report
observed that in 2010-11 to 2013-14, 1,527 books were purchased by FTII for its
library at the cost of Rs 8.86 lakh without inviting any recommendations from
the users namely students or faculty. Also, a physical verification of the
library items in the period revealed that 71 books which were issued to 69
students were never returned to the library. These include 16 rare books whose
prints might not be available presently in the market.
Another
physical verification of books conducted in July 2014 revealed that 129 books
couldn’t be traced at all. This, the report observed, reveals a failure on the
part of the institute administration to force the students to return the books
issued to them. The security procedure in the library hasn’t been foolproof
which has failed to secure the books.
Avoidable
payment of Rs 18.87 lakh to Hewitt
The
inspection also points out “avoidable expense” on commissioning Noida-based
firm Hewitt Associates to formulate an upgradation plan and a detailed project
report (DPR) for FTII in April 2010.
“This entire
report was set aside by a committee of FTII stakeholders which opined that the
report lacked vision, was superficial and of inadequate understanding of the
subject and its context. Apparently, discussion and questionnaires were not
addressed to the proper persons and stakeholders by the consulting firm nor
were they adequately guided by the institute. This resulted in an avoidable
loss of Rs 18.87 lakh,” said the draft report.
Non-recruitment
of regular staff; hiring of external faculty
The report
also revealed actual staff strength following short of the sanctioned strength
during the five years from 2010 to 2015… Out of a total 50 sanctioned posts of
faculty, 27 remained vacant as on October 2015. At the same time, the institute
recruited external faculty in the nature of temporary appointments. During the
period 2010 to 2015, the institute appointed 82 external faculty members
disregarding the vacant positions in regular faculty.
Administration
response
Bhupendra
Kainthola, Director, FTII, said the draft report was received by the institute
in mid-August and that the administration had finalised its responses which
would be sent within a week’s time. He said they had initiated efforts to
correct some of the major issues pointed out in the report.
“The three
‘zero years’ academic years when admission process was stalled were effected
after a decision was taken at the highest level. So I can’t say much about it.
The theft of a camera from Television Department was certainly unprecedented.
We have submitted two FIRs with the police and also a department inquiry was
initiated, a report of which has been submitted recently,” said Kainthola.
He said that
to ensure students returned books issued to them by the library, rules had been
reframed and new students have been given a copy of the same.
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