PANAJI:  The meeting of the governing council of the Entertainment Society of Goa, held on Thursday, deliberated on a report prepared by the expert committee as constituted by the ministry of information and broadcasting for improvement of the International Film Festival of India,

and in principal, accepted recommendations of the committee pertaining to the short-term measures for the purpose. 
The Chief Minister, Mr Digambar Kamat, who headed the meeting, told ‘The Navhind Times’ that the governing council accepted the recommendations as regards short-term measures for improvement of the IFFI 2010, while decided to discuss such long-term measures during the future meeting of the governing council.
The expert committee included film personalities such as Govind Nihalani, Kamal Hassan, Pritish Nandi, Karan Johar, Shabana Azmi, and the lone Goan film-maker, Laxmikant Shetgaonkar, besides the Chief Secretary, among others.
The short-time recommendations accepted by the governing council include establishing a system for ensuring interdepartmental co-ordination and improving qualitative parameters; organising weekly/ fortnightly meetings between the representatives of the ESG and the directorate of film festivals, which would commence as early as June 2010; enhancing the IFFI competition section to the level of the international competition section; instituting prizes of Rs 10 lakh each for best actor and best actress from IFFI 2010 onwards; and increasing number of entries for the international competition section of the IFFI from existing 15 to 18 films, including three entries from India.
The long-term measures recommended by the expert committee include creation of a special purpose vehicle in the form of a society registered under the Society’s Registration Act, India, to run the IFFI. This society would be constituted under the chairmanship of the Minister for Information and Broadcasting, while its governing council would be headed by the information and broadcasting secretary. The vice-chairmen of the Society and the governing council would be the Chief Minister of Goa and Chief Secretary of Goa, respectively.
The expert committee has further suggested that the society would include nationally and internationally recognised film personalities as appointed by the government of India. The other members of the society and the governing council would too be appointed by the central government.
The expert committee, as another long-term measure, has recommended five divisions for the society, headed by the executives as appointed by the government of India. These sections are to be dedicated to infrastructure, content, film market, sponsorship and branding, and promotion and publicity.
The members of the governing council of the ESG who were present at the meeting however expressed dissatisfaction over lack of time - 24 hours - given to them to study the report of the expert committee before taking it up for deliberation.