Sangeet Natak Akademi's new chairperson Ram Niwas Mirdha Thursday said he had requested the government to treat his appointment as an interim measure.

The 80-year-old former central minister, who Tuesday replaced danseuse Sonal Mansingh as head of the Akademi, said: "I have requested the government to treat my appointment as an interim step before finding a more suitable candidate."

"My first priority is going to be to set things right in the organisation, which had lately seen a lot of disturbance due to various reasons," Mirdha said at a press conference here.

The Akademi, the country's premier centre for performing arts, faced protests and resignations by member artists over Mansingh's alleged autocratic style of functioning.

Talking about the status of the members who had resigned from the executive board of the Akademi following disagreements with Mansingh, Mirdha said he was in touch with the government to know the status of their resignation.

"As far as I know the government has not acted yet on the resignations. It is an important matter and has to be solved at the earliest," he said. 

Some 12 members of the Akademi, including vice-chairman Kavalam Narayana Panicker, Carnatic musician Balamuralikrishna and Savitri Heisnam, had resigned accusing Mansingh of autocracy and Hindutva leanings.

"The chairman should act more as a facilitator than as chief executive officer. It is important to ensure the smooth functioning of all the arms of the Akademi and ensure the implementation of all decisions and suggestions," Mirdha said.

Mirdha, a former chairman of the Lalit Kala Akademi, said the three national bodies of art and culture - The Sangeet Natak Akademi, the Lalit Kala Academi and the Sahitya Academy - should work hand in hand to promote the country's varied culture.

"There is a lot of talk of TV and other media influencing our youth adversely. The negative effects can be averted only if our youth have a sound grounding in our culture," he said.

Mirdha said steps would be taken to promote Indian art and culture through educational institutions.

"We have great artistes. We also need an informed and efficient audience to augment this. We owe our cultural heritage to our people. And thus people should profit from it," the chairman said.

As part of a drive to "reach out to the people", Mirda said the Akademi would take steps to digitise, edit, document and make available to the public the vast collection of videos, tapes, photographs and literature available with the Akademi.

Mirdha also said the Akademi would promote the art forms in rural areas and smaller towns of the country.