Govt overhauls board of Indira Gandhi Centre for Arts, appoints new head

The Centre dissolved the board of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), an autonomous institution under the Union Ministry of Culture that was set up by former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, and announced a new chief on Thursday.

The Centre dissolved the board of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), an autonomous institution under the Union ministry of culture set up by former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, and announced a new chief on Thursday.

The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts was set up in 1985 by then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in memory of his mother, former prime minister, Indira Gandhi. (ignca.nic.in)

Senior journalist Ram Bahadur Rai will be the chairman of the body, and will lead a new team of 20 members including Saryu Doshi, Sonal Mansingh, Prasoon Joshi, Chandraprakash Dwivedi, Nitin Desai, Arvinda Rao and Padma Subramaniam. The committee will also have on board the secretary, additional secretary and financial advisor of the ministry of culture and a member secretary of the IGNCA.

“This is not for first time it has been done. It was done earlier also. It is a continuous process. IGNCA will see new changes, and this will serve the purpose for which it has been created,” said Mahesh Sharma, minister of state for tourism, culture and civil aviation, under whom the decision was taken.

The IGNCA was launched on November 19, 1985 in memory of former prime minister Indira Gandhi by her son Rajiv. Visualised as a centre for study and experience of all kinds of arts, the IGCNA also undertakes research and publication.

Rai takes over as chief from Chinmaya R Gharekhan, a former under-secretary general and senior advisor to the UN secretary general as well as former Indian ambassador to the United Nations.

(With inputs from ANI)