Goa govt seeks total control over IFFI

Panaji: Goa government has shown interest to host International Film Festival of India (IFFI) on its own from this year onwards refusing to grant more powers to the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry in holding the annual event. State government-run Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG), has decided to convey it to the Union I&B ministry that the state is ready to host the festival on its own, if they continue seeking more powers in organising the event. The meeting chaired by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar last evening decided that ESG will put its foot down during the scheduled meeting with Directorate of Film Festival (a wing of I&B) when it comes to giving powers in organising forthcoming IFFI. ESG and DFF are expected to meet later this month in New Delhi. "DFF is increasingly asking for more autonomy in hosting the festival. This is not agreeable to us. We have been sharing 85 per cent of the financial cost of hosting the festival," ESG Vice Chairman Vishnu Surya Wagh told reporters after the meeting at Kala Academy here. He alleged that the state has been left to only look after logistics and pay for the expenses of the festival, while DFF is taking over the powers. "ESG has been used as an event management agency. The members expressed their anguish over this matter during the meeting," Wagh said. The ESG has now decided that they will ask for more powers through the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that would be signed in the run up for the hosting of the event. IFFI is being held every year in November in Goa since 2004. PTI