NEW DELHI: The Union cabinet on Wednesday approved the merger of four government-run film and media units — Films Division, Directorate of Film Festivals, National Film Archives of India and the autonomous Children’s Film Society — into National Film Development Corporation for “convergence of activities and resources and better coordination”.
Times View
The merger is a huge step by the government. Limitations notwithstanding, all these institutions had developed a distinct identity in their respective fields over the years. One only hopes that bringing them under one umbrella will actually lead to improved functioning and not the opposite.
The vision of the new entity will be to ensure balanced and focused development of Indian cinema in all its genres; feature films, including films, content for the OTT platforms, children’s content, animation, short films and documentaries,” the statement from the Union cabinet said.
Sources said recommendations for closer coordination of the work done by the film and media units were first proposed by the Bimal Julka Committee. There was also a view that units like the Films Division, the oldest of the four units, was generating high salary bills but had contributed little by way of quality content over the years.
While each of the film units like the National Film Archives of India, Directorate of Film Festivals and the Children’s Film Society had been given a specific mandate when they were each set up, it was felt that the units had failed over the years to keep abreast with industry-standard and it would be better managed by bringing them under one roof with different verticals, instead of independent units specialising in the designated areas.
Sources said the government may offer a one-time fund corpus to NFDC to set up necessary systems, but the company will eventually need to find funds and run itself independently, thereby reducing the burden on the state exchequer.
The merger also brings within NFDC’s fold the autonomous Children’s Film Society, which was founded in 1955 under the Societies Act to provide value-based entertainment through films to children and young adults. With a set budget of Rs 3 crore per film, which is significantly less than film budgets in the current scenario, sources said quality of content has suffered.
While announcing the merger on Wednesday, the government clarified that there will be no retrenchments and the interests of all employees associated with all units will be protected.