In an unprecedented move, the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune has made it compulsory for all new students to sign a “general conduct” affidavit which states that students won’t be allowed to disrupt the “decorum and decency” on the campus, reports Indian Express.
It even goes one step further and states that a student will be barred from “insulting” faculty members. Now, what constitutes as an “insult” is a matter of speculation.
The document makes it clear that if a student were to violate these newly formed rules, then “the institute has full right to initiate disciplinary proceedings” against that individual.
This “knee-jerk reaction” is seen as a precautionary move to avoid controversies like the appointment of TV actor Gajendra Chauhan as the institute’s director last year, which triggered an over-four-month deadlock after its agitating students had held a 139-day strike.
The affidavit also makes it amply clear that hostel accommodation is not the right of a student. “I understand that accommodation in FTII may be provided only on the basis of its availability, subject to fulfilling other terms and conditions,” it says, reports Indian Express.
This initiative might be coming from several reports last year that many students, even after completing their course, were overstaying in the hostel.
However, a spokesperson of the FTII Students’ Union, speaking to Indian Express has disapproved of such “arm-twisting methods to instill fear in the minds of the freshers” and went on to add that the institute expects the students to be “subservient and not question them”.
(Feature image source: Twitter)