Mike Pandey decries spat between I&B ministry and Goa govt

MUMBAI: Chairman of the steering committee of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) Mike Pandey has opined that squabbling between the Information & Broadcasting (I& B) ministry and the Goa government over sharing the costs could weaken the event.

In a letter to the Goa government dated 14 July, Pandey has also written to the Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF) that the current goings-on between the two agencies were disturbing.

“We need to get away from the syndrome of this is something ‘incurred by Goa state‘ or ‘that belongs to the Centre‘. Let us pool our strength, experience and hearts and work as one team,” averred Pandey.

It was under the I&B Ministry‘s insistence that Pandey has been trying to sort out differences between the two entities.

The DFF functions under the I&B ministry and the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG), a government society created to promote films in the state.

The ESG, chaired by chief minister Digambar Kamat and the DFF, headed by a senior I&B official, have for years been at loggerheads over logistical and expense related issues of the IFFI, which is being held in Goa for several years now.

The Goa government claims that it foots the bill of several crores of rupees every year but is not compensated enough.