SRFTI students refused to vacate their hostels and campus premises in Kolkata on Saturday after the institute suspended academic activities for its Film and EDM wings until November 13 and shut mess services. The administration had directed students to leave within 24 hours, saying the measures were intended to restore normalcy and ensure the orderly functioning of the institute.
The shutdown has created immediate accommodation and food concerns for students, particularly those from outside Kolkata and abroad. SRFTI is currently home to four international students across different batches. The administration said it was coordinating with all four to address their individual accommodation requirements.
According to registrar Deepak Kumar, one female student from Mexico is staying outside the campus, while a male student from Bangladesh who has been allotted a hostel is also currently staying outside. A female student from Botswana has been allotted a hostel, while a student from Japan is staying outside the campus. “The administration remains in touch with all four and will address their concerns, keeping their individual circumstances in view,” Kumar said.
Students, however, said the sudden closure had disrupted basic arrangements. They cited the suspension of the mess and described the situation as a food crisis. Anamika Pal, a student, said the institute had pasted a notice on the hostel board but had not sent an official email informing students about the shutdown.
Pal also alleged that actors were refusing to visit the campus for film shoots and criticised vice-chancellor Santosh Ajmera’s handling of the situation. She said the ongoing student sit-in had not been addressed and described the administration’s approach as harmful to students’ safety and ability to live on campus. These statements represent the students’ position and were not independently established in the report.
The disruption has also raised concerns about student film projects that depend on seasonal conditions. Some students said a month-long halt could affect plans to shoot visual elements such as kash flowers and autumn skies, potentially delaying projects by a year because the seasonal conditions would not return immediately.
Sneha Malakar, another student, said students had been permitted to remain on campus during the Covid period if they wished to do so. She said she would not vacate her hostel room. The students’ resistance comes as the institute continues to deal with an ongoing sit-in and the suspension of regular academic activity.
The administration said the leave was not an abrupt decision but an extension of a break already included in the academic calendar. Kumar said the scheduled Durga Puja leave ran from October 17 to October 26 and that a large number of students had already gone home. In view of the current circumstances, the leave was extended, he said.
Kumar said all students were required to comply with the eviction order within the prescribed timeline and warned that non-compliance would invite appropriate disciplinary action. The institute’s direction covers the period during which regular academic activities remain suspended and mess services are unavailable.
