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NFDC may not be shut after all as I&B ministry comes up with a fresh merger plan

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Previous I&B minister Smriti Irani had decided to shut it down, but the ministry is now keen on merging two other units with NFDC.

New Delhi: With a change of guard at the top, the information and broadcasting ministry has also changed its mind about shutting down the National Film Development Corporation, ThePrint has learnt.

Instead of closing NFDC down, the ministry, now led by Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, wants to merge two other units — the Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF) and the Children’s Film Society of India (CFSI) — with the state-funded firm.

Smriti Irani, Rathore’s predecessor, had initiated the move to wind up NFDC and CFSI and create an umbrella body of all the film bodies including the Films Division, National Film Archives of India (NFAI) and the DFF, senior I&B ministry officials said.

A cabinet note to this effect was also prepared and sent to different ministries for their comments, according to the officials.

What NITI Aayog said

The idea of shutting down loss-making public sector enterprises has long been endorsed by the NITI Aayog. Earlier this year, the government think tank had provisionally identified NFDC as a candidate for strategic sale, among others.

A NITI Aayog panel had recommended merging CFSI with the Films Division before Irani became minister. But she decided to review it after taking charge.

“NFDC has been incurring losses despite a revival package offered by the government,” a senior official said.

“It had also moved away from its core job of film production and ventured into managing events of other ministries and producing advertisement campaigns. But randomly shutting it down will lead to several job losses,” the official added.

It was NFDC, instead of the Directorate of Film Festivals, which had organised the International Film Festival of India in Goa last year.

‘Merger will bring accountability’

One argument in the government is that the merger will help bring accountability and ensure better management of resources.

“Many of these units have overlapping functions. Merger of the three will ensure better management of resources and would create a synergy in their operation,” said an NFDC source.

The NFDC website says that the PSU has funded or co-produced more than 300 popular as well as critically acclaimed movies such as Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, Salaam Bombay and Lunch Box since it was established in 1975.

CFSI, an autonomous body under the I&B ministry, was set up in 1955, for producing cinema exclusively for children.

NFDC chief Nina Lath Gupta was relieved of her duties in controversial circumstances by the I&B ministry in February this year, while CFSI chairperson Mukesh Khanna resigned earlier this year citing non-cooperation from the ministry.

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