FTII Itanagar students have refused to begin their second semester, alleging that the institute is functioning from an “unfinished and non-functional campus” that lacks the basic academic infrastructure required for their courses. In a statement issued on Tuesday, students of the Screen Acting and Documentary Cinema programmes said they had already lost an entire semester due to what they described as a “collapsed academic environment”. They pointed to non-operational studios, faulty classrooms, inadequate camera equipment, the absence of a sound studio, poor medical support and restricted access to essential amenities.
“The institute that was promised as a state-of-the-art national campus is still under construction,” the students said, adding that repeated letters sent to the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) in Kolkata and the Union Ministry of Information & Broadcasting since December last year had failed to bring any corrective action.
The campus, which has already experienced two academic shutdowns this year — in March and May — continues to face unresolved infrastructure issues, they said. While classes resumed in August, the students claim that all construction and infrastructure work stopped entirely with no intervention from the Ministry.
Citing recent RTI replies and correspondence between SRFTI and the Ministry, the students said the campus remains incomplete and has been deemed unfit for admitting new students in 2025, resulting in a pause in fresh admissions. “If the institute is officially unfit for future students today, why were we admitted last year when the situation was worse?” they asked, accusing authorities of treating them as “experimental subjects in a prematurely launched institution”.
Screen Acting students noted that camera-acting training is impossible without functional studios and dedicated performance spaces. They said losing another semester would irreparably damage their specialised education. Documentary Cinema students echoed the concerns, arguing that meaningful documentary training requires a sound studio, a usable studio floor and dependable fieldwork support—without which their diploma films would fall short of global technical standards.
The students have sought a written response from the Ministry and SRFTI addressing four key demands: formal acknowledgment of their concerns, a clear time-bound action plan, a meeting with student representatives, and the development of permanent, functional infrastructure rather than temporary fixes. They have also asked for immediate relocation if deadlines are missed again.
Until these demands are met, the students have declared a halt to academic activity. “No classes. No Semester 2. No more suffering,” they said, adding that they would not allow their futures “to die in scaffolding.”
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