Theatre personality Shaoli Mitra today said she has expressed willingness to quit from the post of Chairperson of Bangla Academy, a post she holds at the state-run regulatory body to promote Bengali language, since 2012.
Shaoli, daughter of late Bengali theatre doyens Sombhu and Tripiti Mitra, told reporters today she had sent a letter addressed to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee three weeks back but was yet to get any response from the Chief Minister's Office.
"I can't spell out the details now, but I was facing infrastructure problems in executing my vision to run the academy. I had cited several points on the issue in my letter to the CM but I am yet to get a reply," Mitra said.
She said she had agreed to accept the post after author Mahasweta Devi stepped down in 2012. She said her willingness to take up the position was not driven by "financial ressons" or any other selfish gains but simply because she wanted to do some meaningful work in promoting Bengali literature.
She also said she had been enjoying her work till around 2016 and had brought out several publications in the initial years.
Asked what problems she was facing at present, Mitra said, "All I can say now is that I was not getting the infrastructure I needed to get things done the way I wish."
Shaoli Mitra was among the intellectuals who had called for change (paribartan) in West Bengal before the 2011 Assembly elections and stood by Mamata Banerjee in her Nandigram and Singur agitations when the CPI(M)-led Left Front government was at the helm.
West Bengal Bangla Academy was founded on May 20, 1986. It is involved with the task of reforming Bengali spelling, grammar, compiling dictionaries and promoting the language.
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