The information and broadcasting ministry on 20th January put in public domain the recommendations of the Bimal Julka-led expert committee’s report on rationalisation, closure and merger of five film media units — the Films Division (FD), Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF), National Film Archive of India (NFAI), Children’s Film Society (India) (CFSI) and the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC). The report had been submitted to the ministry seven months back, in June last year. The government had recently announced a merger of all the five film units and brought them under the NFDC. The formal merger is expected to happen shortly.
The expert committee was headed by former I & B secretary Bimal Julka (in picture above) and also comprised filmmakers T.S. Nagabharana, Shyama Prasad, A.K. Bir and Rahul Rawail, besides two representatives of the I & B ministry. It had unanimously proposed the need for an umbrella organisation with four verticals dealing in film production, festivals, heritage and knowledge, each of which would perform different activities to avoid overlapping, duplication, wastage of financial resources and for a more efficient and coordinated management of the film wing.
It may be mentioned here that a number of people in the film industry had opposed the merger.