Centre orders shutting down of branches of Films Division, two other cinema units by January-end https://scroll.in/latest/1012808/centre-orders-shutting-down-of-branches-of-films-division-two-other-cinema-units-by-january-end?fbclid=IwAR2y2-Pcx1-3P3DZrWjJtMsvTIJl8mBs8Le50VomyUwsBLa3SxAAdGx5-PI
The government had announced last year that a clutch of state-run film organisations would be merged with the National Film Development Corporation.
Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas wrote to I & B minster the the National Film Development Corporation is registered under the Companies Act and “has to generate profit for its operation and sustainability”. He asked how it could “undertake projects and works of non-profit nature like preservation of archives of invaluable films, etc. and non-profit activities” being undertaken by the Films Division and Directorate of Film Festivals. “It is learnt that these entities have owned properties and other assets in almost all prime cities, that too in prime locations, and that those properties have a value of several thousands of crores,” he wrote. “The aggrieved stake holders are alleging that the real intention of the merger/closure is to slowly privatise the NFDC, once the merger is over, or to liquidate the same after a couple of years so that these assets can be sold or leased out for throwaway prices.”
-K.P. Sasi The decision of the Central Government to close down the branches of Films Division and merge it with NFDC is highly unfortunate. NFDC is registered as a company. Already there has been a pressure on NFDC to make profits for quite some time. The Films Division of India has the archives of footages right from the days of Gandhi and Nehru during the freedom struggle. I believe that what they wish is to do away with that visual history. Everybody knows the limitations of RSS and the Hindutva forces in the freedom struggle. Right from the Nehruvian Governance, there were attempts to create nationalised banks, nationalised airports, air crafts, sea ports and many other bodies. Today, the move is to privatise everything. I would not be surprised, if NFDC along with the Films Division of India is handed over to Adani or Ambani. I do hope that the film makers in India would resist the recent changes.
-K.P. Sasi
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