The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has decided to hold fresh parleys with Film and Television Institute of India students who have been on a strike demanding removal of actor-turned-BJP leader Gajendra Chauhan as Chairman of the institute.

The Ministry has asked FTII Director Prashant Pathrabe to convey to the protesters the decision to hold talks after a three-member team submitted its report on the causes of the agitation to the government, students said.

“Since the invite was orally conveyed to the Director by Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore, there is some confusion on the nature of issues that will be discussed in this fresh round of talks. We are awaiting clarity on this,” Harishankar Nachimuthu, president, FTII Students’ Association, said. In July, efforts to hold talks failed, with a 10-member delegation, led by Girish Kasaravalli, film-maker, noting the “intransigence” of the government in continuing with Mr. Chauhan and the FTII Governing Council, four of whose members are from the Sangh Parivar.

Support for the students’ agitation, which completed 85 days, continued to flow in with Sunil Gokhale, great grandson of the nationalist leader Gopal Krishna Gokhale, appealing for Mr. Chauhan’s removal. In a nine-page complaint addressed to the FTII, the city-based lawyer sought information on the opaque selection procedures. “The object of my complaint is to get a reply from the FTII Society in order to understand the government’s thought processes behind the selection of such candidates,” he said.