Days after danseuse Leela Samson stepped down as the chairperson of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, a senior official at the Akademi has revealed that the resignation has come after a period of stalemate with the ruling NDA government.
"The Akademi comes under the Ministry of Art and Culture, and has to be in consultation with the ministry for activities, projects and guidelines. There is a huge deficit of responsibility on part of the government who has been ignoring repeated requests from Samson. In this awkward situation, she felt it was best to let go to let someone new come in and not stall the work for the Akademi," said a senior official at the Akademi.
The previous Congress government had appointed Samson as the chairperson of the Akademi in August 2010, and her term was due to end in August, 2015. Samson was the 12th serving head of the Akademi, an autonomous body set up in 1952, which is the national academy for the performing arts like music, dance and drama. Samson had tendered her resignation on September 30 to the Minister of Art and Culture Yesso Naik, who accepted it. Samson has not revealed the reason of her resignation, and repeated attempts to speak to Samson remained unanswered.
The source also added that a lot of work has been stalled because of the lack of members in the general council, many of whose terms had ended in July. "There was no vice-president, and there are very few members left in the executive board," said the official.
The chairperson is usually nominated by the President, and the members in the general council are nominated in consideration to their contributions to the various fields of the performing arts from the different states. The tenure of each member is of five years. Samson, a Padma Shri recipient as well as the recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, has been a revered Bharatanatyam soloist, choreographer and instructor. She learned the dance form from the legendary Rukmini Devi Arunadale at Kalakshetra, and eventually became the director of the institution on 2005. She was at the helm for seven years, and resigned on April, 2012. She was also the author of the legendary Arunadale's biography, Rukmini Devi - A Life. Apart from performing at various venues around the world, Samson has taught at London's Royal Opera House.
Samson is also the current chairperson of the Central Board for Film Certification. She was appointed in March, 2011, succeeding actor Sharmila Tagore, and continues to be at the helm even though her tenure expired in March this year.
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