Lalit Kala Akademi National Academy of Arts, an autonomous organisation of Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India held its general council meeting at India International Centre on November 26. Meeting started by reading the Preamble to the Constitution of India on the occasion of 71st Constitution Day of India.
In the meeting the selection process of several governing members was undertaken. During the process the members were selected under the supervision of the election officer Dr Ram Samujh, IRS (Retd).
Dr Nand Lal Thakur, GC member from Himachal Pradesh, was unanimously elected as vice chairman of the Academy.
Dr Uttam Pacharne, Chairman, Lalit Kala Akademi said, “I thank general council members for the smooth functioning of the meeting and passing resolutions unanimously. It is an ample proof of the cultural unity of the Indian artistic community as well as their faith in the policies of government to promote art and culture. The council meeting was held after a gap of nine long years. It was the first time that the members showed unanimity in almost all the decisions, including the formation of committee. The Akademi is grateful to Culture minister Prahlad Singh Patel for his leadership and his vision and dedication in the field of art and culture.”
The following members were selected as members of the executive board. Suman Majumdar (Tripura), Dr. Richa Kamboj (Uttarakhand), Kishore Kumar Das (Assam), Dr Sunil Kumar Viswarkarma (Uttar Pradesh), C.S. Krishna Setty (Karnataka), Ankush Kumar Dewangan (Chhattisgarh), Gita Hudson (Tamil Nadu), Nirupama Tank (Gujarat), Maruti Baburao Shilke (Maharashtra). The members elected as finance committee members are — Setty (from Executive Board), Majumdar (from General Council), Dr Sonali Sarnobat, Karnataka (from General Council).
In the meeting the members passed a resolution for enhancing the term of general council members and chairman from three to five years similar to other academies under Ministry of Culture.
Pacharne made several announcements to serve the artists community in the meeting. These include the proposals for opening of new regional centres at Pune (Maharashtra), Hubli (Karnataka), Ahmedabad (Gujarat) and Agartala (Tripura). He also announced organisation of 75 major programmes to commemorate 75th independent anniversary of India next year and increasing the awards and scholarship amounts after the due administrative process. The chairman sought the cooperation of all members for organising XII Triennale-India that would be taken up shortly.
