'Headless' Kalamandalam facing crisis

By T. Ramavarman

CHERUTHURUTHY, JULY 26. The Kerala Kalamandalam which is one of the flagship cultural institutions of the State is in a serious administrative crisis following the decision of the governing council members to lay down office themselves from July 20 last.

The Kalamandalam is practically remaining headless since July 20 as the charge of the chairman has not been handed over to anyone so far though Prof. O.N.V. Kurup who was holding that post has informed the Government that he would be relinquishing the office that day.

And the impact of the decision of Prof. Kurup will be somewhat grave because Kalamandalam's account is a joint one operated by the chairman and the secretary of the Department of Culture, and if the Government fails to hand over the charge of the chairman to somebody within the next couple of days, the 135-odd persons working in the Kalamandalam will not get their salary this month.

In fact, the governing council of Kalamandalam which comprised mainly pro-Left personalities such as Prof. Kurup, Mr. A.S.N. Nambeesan and Mr. Radhakrishnan Nair had expressed their desire to quit soon after the LDF was voted out of power and the UDF assumed office in May last.

But the Government had suggested to them to continue till alternative arrangements are made, and the council members were also not pressing their resignation to give time to the new Government to constitute a new panel to succeed them. The Government had, however, made it clear that the council should not take any policy decision in between.

However, the provocation for the decision of the council members to relinquish office themselves was the reception of a circular from the Department of Cultural Affairs asking Kalamandalam and other cultural institutions to terminate the services of all their temporary employees, including those on deputation, casual labourers and re-employed pensioners.

The letter was received in the Kalamandalam on July 17 last and the council had an urgent meeting in Thiruvananthapuram the next day itself to consider the implications of the letter. The meeting decided that the directive of the Government cannot be implemented in an institution like Kalamandalam where the temporary employees are playing a crucial role and that the council should step down on its own from July 20 to protest against the Government circular.

Prof. Kurup had reportedly given a letter to the Government informing it about the decision of the council, and also about the various administrative problems that could arise in Kalamandalam because of the decision.

The council also pointed out that it was unable to take any policy decision for the last two months and there was no relevance in they continuing in office for long without being able to take any policy decision.

The council, however, asked the secretary, Mr. Radhakrishnan Nair, not to quit, but sanctioned him 20 days of leave from July 20. Mr. Nair had gone on leave after handing over the routine charges to the office superintendent.

When contacted, Mr. Nair told The Hindu that out of the total work-force of about 135 in Kalamandalam nearly 25 are temporary employees and they include Plus Two teachers, experts in physical exercises and mess employees. The abrupt termination of services of the temporary employees would mean stoppage of classes, physical training and providing food for students in the hostels.

There was a controversy even earlier about the appointment of temporary persons in Kalamandalam, but we had made it clear to the Government that Kalamandalam had to be treated separately as the services of the temporary employees are crucial for it. But the Government has now arbitrarily asked us to terminate the services and we said we cannot be party to a decision which will jeopardise the functioning of Kalamandalam.

Apart from the administrative crisis, the `headless state' of Kalamandalam is affecting many of its future programmes as well as including the efforts to get UGC recognition for its courses. The UGC team which was to inspect the Kalamandalam for this purpose was postponing its visit for a couple of times apparently because of the uncertain atmosphere prevailing here.

But it is not Kalamandalam alone which is facing uncertainty after the UDF came to power, the other cultural institutions like the Kerala Sahithya Akademi, Kerala Lalithakala Akademi and Sangeetha Nataka Akademi are also in similar plight. The Government has asked the district administrative officials to take charges of these institutions, but has not been able to constitute the Governing councils for them.

According to reports, it is intense lobbying for posts by various groups in the Congress and the UDF that is making it difficult for the Government to make a choice about the selection of members to the governing councils of the cultural institutions in the State even after nearly three months of the UDF coming to power.

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