In 1945,
The Asiatic Society of Bengal submitted a proposal to establish a National Cultural Trust consisting of three academies: an Academy of Music, Dance, and Drama, an Academy of Letters, and an Academy of Art and Architecture. The proposal was reconsidered in the Conference on Art held in
Kolkata in 1949, and two conferences, the Conference on Letters, and the Conference on Dance, Drama, and Music, were held in
New Delhi in 1951. All three conferences were organized by the
Government of India and recommended the establishment of three national academies: an Academy of Music, Dance, and Drama (Sangeet Natak Akademi), an Academy of Letters (
Sahitya Akademi), and an Academy of Art (
Lalit Kala Akademi). The Sangeet Natak Akademi, established on 31 May 1952 by a resolution of the
Ministry of Human Resource Development (then the Ministry of Education), Government of India, headed by
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, The first members of the Executive Board of the Akademi consisted of
Maharaja Sri Sir Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar Bahadur, T. L. Venkatarama Aiyar, S. N. Mozumdar, N. R. Ray,
Dharma Vira, A.K. Ghosh, J. C. Mathur, and A. V. Venkateswaran. Other two institutes were established later; the Sahitya Akademi was inaugurated on 12 March 1954 and the Lalit Kala Akademi was inaugurated on 5 August 1954. Later, on 11 September 1961, it was reorganized as a society and registered under the
Societies Registration Act, 1860. Though the Sangeet Natak Akademi functions as an autonomous organization of the
Ministry of Culture, its programmes are completely funded by the Government. Since 1965, the Akademi also publishes a quarterly journal,
Sangeet Natak. ==Description==