Cabinet to decide NSD head

NEW DELHI: A day after Sunday Times reported the delay in the appointment of a new director for National School of Drama (NSD), Union minister for culture Chandresh Kumari Katoch said the decision is pending with the Cabinet. The minister, who was unavailable to comment on the issue on Saturday, reverted to us on Sunday and said she had forwarded the list of recommendations to the Cabinet back in February, but it’s hard to say when the decision would be taken.
“But I can assure you that whenever the Cabinet takes the decision, I will notify the new director within 24 hours,” she told this reporter.
It’s been seven months since the selection committee sent a prioritized list of three names to the ministry, yet no appointment has been made.
Regarding the priority order, Katoch said the selection committee just recommends three names and it is for the government to decide who should be appointed. A memorandum signed by 29 theatre artistes was submitted to Katoch on Thursday. It urged the minister to appoint Arundhati Nag, whose name was the first on the priority list, as NSD director at the earliest.