‘Systematic abandonment’: FTI AR students without clean water, proper classrooms, safety; JNUSU backs protest

The very first batch of the newly established Film and Television Institute (FTI), Arunachal Pradesh has raised serious concerns regarding the campus infrastructure. The first-year students at the extended centre of SRFTI complained of lack of drinking water leading to illnesses, untimely power cuts, incomplete buildings, and missing security on campus.

“We, the students of the inaugural batch at Film & Television Institute, Arunachal Pradesh, India's 3rd National Film School under the Ministry of I&B after FTII Pune and SRFTI Kolkata are facing severe hardships - studying without clean drinking water (causing frequent illnesses), enduring untimely power cuts, attending classes in unfinished buildings, and lacking basic security on campus,” the students complained.

Despite staging a protest previously in March, students didn’t see promises being fulfilled and hence collectively decided to halt academic activities indefinitely from May 15.

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With a sense of disappointment, the film institute students argued that despite studying in India’s third national film institute, they still haven’t received an institute logo, IDs, and a full-time director on campus. The “young filmmakers of this country” expressed their right to education with dignity and sought support in bringing visibility to their struggle for basic dignity and educational rights.

JNUSU slams 'negligence'; joins FTI students

Extending support to the struggling students, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) condemned the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and the BJP government for their “gross negligence" and “systematic abandonment” of the students. India’s third national film is today a symbol of deliberate underdevelopment, the student group remarked and expressed surprise on the fact that despite having a national status, the FTI students are being forced to function in “inhumane” and “undignified” conditions.

JNU students’ association noted that the students of FTI have been denied access to clean drinking water, forced to attend classes amid erratic power supply, with no proper classrooms or buildings. They are left without even basic campus security. The administration has failed to provide the bare minimum infrastructure: there is no official institute logo, no student identity cards, no full-time director, and no mechanism to address student grievances.

“These are not privileges; they are fundamental entitlements that every educational institution is obligated to ensure. That students are on an indefinite academic halt since 15th May is not an act of disruption, but a desperate outcry for dignity, accountability, and justice. This strike is a direct response to the systemic and structural negligence of the government,” JNUSU asserted.

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Taking a dig at the BJP-RSS government, the JNU students claimed that since the party came to power, there has been a targeted attack on public education. They took the example of the Union Budget 2025, wherein the University Grants Commission (UGC) saw a “devastating” 61% cut in its funds from Rs 6,409 crore to just Rs 2,500 crore and argued how these fund cuts have affected institutions, especially those meant to serve marginalized and underrepresented communities.

Demanding fulfilment of the basic demands of students, JNUSU stated, “We, the JNU Students’ Union, stand in unwavering solidarity with the students at FTI Arunachal Pradesh and demand that the Government of India, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, and all responsible authorities immediately and unconditionally fulfill the rightful and basic demands of the students. This includes the provision of proper infrastructure, a safe and secure campus, clean water, stable electricity, recognition in the form of official identity cards and an institutional logo, appointment of a full-time director, and a thriving academic environment that respects and nurtures the art and cinema that students come to learn.”

Demanding an end to the negligence, the students’ union said that these are not extraordinary demands but bare minimum that a national institute must provide. Anything less is a betrayal of the students and the very idea of public education, JNUSU added.