A students body of the Film and Television Institute of India on Friday held a protest alleging that the Pune-based educational institute was not filling up seats reserved for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Class categories, reported The Indian Express.
The Film and Television Institute of India Students Association staged the protest after the final merit list for this year’s admission was published on July 26. The students carried placards with messages such as “inequality in admission”, “resist attack on reservation”, “discrimination” and “don’t subvert reservation”, reported PTI.
In a statement released on Friday, the students body alleged that the institute authorities have made a “gross mockery” of the provisions for reservations. They said that authorities have cited ineligibility as the reason for not filling up the the seats reserved for the members of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Class communities.
The authorities have claimed that many candidates did not clear the cut-off percentages – 45% for Other Backward Class (non-creamy layer) and General Economically Weaker Sections, 40% for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and General Persons with Disabilities, and 50% for General category.
However, the students alleged that there is no transparency about how the authorities arrived at the cut-off figures, claiming that the validity of these criteria are disputable, reported The Times of India.
Sayantan Chakravarty, one of the protesting students, told The Times of India: “It is an effort to put a filter on the incoming members to the institute and to mute our voices. The student community considers this a blatant violation of the laws of reservation under self-made rules of the institute.”
The students also objected to the orientation and interview being conducted online, saying that it creates more inequality among candidates trying to take admission.
The students have also claimed that no waiting list has been released for the reserved categories. They have demanded that the institute reevaluate the merit list.
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