THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As the one-month notice period from the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC) to the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) to vacate its premises here ended on Wednesday, Kerala would find it very hard to keep the regional NFDC office here.To make things worse for the state, the NFDC authorities are finding Tamil Nadu’s offer, for a theatre in a prime locality in Chennai for 30-year-old lease with one rupee per annum rent, more lucrative than the KSFDC notice asking to pay Rs 40 per square feet for the 483 square feet office with retrospective effect from year 2000. This has been conveyed in a note attached to the letter from Ambika Soni, Minister for Communication to Shashi Throor MP on February 22 regarding the closure of the office.In a letter dated February 17, the NFDC Managing Director had written to Ambika Soni that the regional office, which started its operation in June 1990 at the KSFDC headquarters here, is almost defunct.“It only carries out the liaison work of collecting the tapes of the films and delivering it to Doordarsan. Thus the closure of the office would not affect the role of NFDC vis-a-vis Malayalam cinema as all links, if any, are already with either the Chennai office or with the head office. Nor would it adversely affect the profitability of the corporation. On the contrary, its closure would have a positive effect on the earnings of the NFDC, making available greater working capital and human resource to invest in activities aimed at development of cinemas of India,” it said.Meanwhile, the statement from NFDC MD that the regional office generates no income directly, makes it contrary to the one made by the regional director on January 24, 2012 under RTI, which says the annual business generated in 2008-2009 (till October 2009) was Rs 54,69,814 while it was Rs 66,40,975 in 2006-07.NFDC had taken the decision to shift its regional office after the Board of Directors meeting on February 4, 2012, in Chennai. But a breather came following an outcry on the issue with many leaders, including Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala, Shashi Tharoor MP and K Muraleedharan MLA asking for Ambika Soni’s intervention.
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