Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Government has announced new heads for various institutions under the Department of Culture, except some important bodies such as Sangeetha Nataka Akademi and Sahitya Akademi.

The new appointments include film actor and director Madhupal (Chairman, Kerala Cultural Activists’ Welfare Fund Board) and poet Murukan Kattakkada (Director, Malayalam Mission). Meanwhile, filmmaker Shaji S Karun (Chairman, Kerala Films Development Corporation) and Pramod Payyanur (Director, Bharat Bhavan, Thiruvananthapuram) will continue in their posts. P S Sreekala, Director of Literacy Mission, has been shifted to Institute of Languages.

Other selections are: Murali Chiroth (Chairman, Lalithakala Akademi); G Shankar (Director, Vastu Vidya Gurukulam, Aranmula); Dr Muse Mary George (Director, State Institute of Encyclopaedic Publications) and G S Pradeep (Vice-Chairman, Vyloppilly Samskrithi Bhavan, Thiruvananthapuram).

A government press release said the official orders regarding the appointments would be published soon. Filmmaker Ranjith, who was appointed as Chairman of Chalachitra Akademi, took charge a few days ago.

Meanwhile, a controversy had been sparked over the choice of singer M G Sreekumar by the CPM state secretariat for the post of Chairman, Sangeeth Nataka Akademi over his alleged links with the BJP. The state government subsequently is looking for another name to fill the post.