Assamese author appointed as NBT director
Assamese author and winner of Sahitya Akademi award, Rita Chowdhury has been appointed as the new director of the National Book Trust (NBT). The post had fallen vacant after MA Sikandar’s tenure in the job ended August last year.
22 Jul 2015 | 6314 Views | By Dibyajyoti Sarma
“The ministry of human resource development has cleared Rita Chowdhury’s name as the next director of NBT,” ministry officials said.
Chowdhury, a professor of political science at Cotton College, has won a number of awards for her books. She received the Sahitya Akademi award in 2008 for her novel Deo Langkhui, which is based on the Tiwa tribe of Assam. Her other novel, Makam, which traces the plight of Chinese-origin people in Assam, has been a bestseller in Assamese.
The filling up of the crucial post in NBT comes amid allegations that the government was appointing persons with close links to BJP at the top level.
The ministry of human resource development had earlier appointed Baldeo Sharma, former editor of Panchajanya, as NBT chairman. In March, NBT chairman A Sethumadhavan had to step down under controversial circumstances, following which the ministry had appointed Sharma to the post.
Chowdhury’s appointment as director has also raised a few eyebrows as her husband, a well-known politician, Chandra Mohan Patowary, had joined BJP last year.
Established in 1957, with an objective of producing and encouraging quality literature in all Indian languages, the NBT is an autonomous body under the Union HRD ministry. Besides making books available at moderate prices, NBT also organises book fairs, exhibitions and takes part in fairs around the world. The director looks after the editorial functions of 24 editors working in Indian languages.