Shaoli Mitra wants to quit as Bangla Academy chief

Theatre personality Shaoli Mitra on Sunday said she has wished to resign from the post of Chairperson of Bangla Academy citing infrastructural issues.

Since 2012, Shaoli, daughter of late Bengali theatre doyens Sombhu and Tripiti Mitra, has been at the state-run regulatory body to promote Bengali language.

"I have sent a letter to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee three weeks back offering my resignation but I am yet to get a reply from the Chief Minister's Office," said Mitra who was among the intellectuals who had called for change (paribartan) in West Bengal before the 2011 Assembly elections.

According to her, she had agreed to accept the post after author Mahasweta Devi stepped down in 2012.

"I was facing infrastructure problems in executing my vision to run the academy. Proper infrastructure is needed to get things done the way I wish," she said responding to a query about reasons for offering resignation.

Mitra supported Mamata Banerjee in her Nandigram and Singur agitations during the rule of the CPI-M-led Left Front government.

--IANS

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