May 5: Artistes from various parts of the Northeast have demanded that the North Eastern Council (NEC) run the Jyoti Chitraban Film and Television Institute as Dispur has failed to manage the show.

The institute was set up by the Jyoti Chitraban (Film Studio) Society at Kahilipara in January 1999 to provide theoretical and practical training in the production of film and television programmes.

Over a dozen artistes, including Dara Ahmed, Altaf Mazid, Malaya Goswami, Santwana Bardoloi, Indu Kalpa Hazarika, Nipon Goswami and Eli Ahmed recently submitted a memorandum to chief minister Tarun Gogoi demanding that Jyoti Chitraban be upgraded into a regional film and television institute.

The memorandum said the institute, during the past six years of its existence, has received accolades and produced talents who are doing extremely well in the field of television and cinema in different parts of the country.

?But the institute is facing an uncertain future with Dispur unable to provide funds. If things don’t improve at the institute, it would be a major loss for the people of the region,? an artiste said.

Aribam Shyam Sharma, filmmaker from Manipur, has also submitted a memorandum to Tarun Gogoi demanding that Jyoti Chitraban be accorded regional status under the management of the NEC or DoNER.