Newly-elected Board of Control for Cricket in India president Sharad Pawar promised to give top most priority to transparency and harmony in the functioning of the Board.

Addressing his maiden press conference in Kolkata on Tuesday, hours after being elected to the highest BCCI post, Pawar said people in India and abroad are anxious to know about the Board.

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"It is high time to bring professionalism in the functioning of the Board."

He promised to set up a media committee of the Board apart from a media officer for the team.

"We deal with public at large, media and sponsors. It is our responsibility to keep very good relations with this cross section... we have to take a professional approach in day-to-day running of the Board."

Pawar said the new committee will find a suitable sponsor for the team as the agreement with Sahara has already expired.

He said priority would also be given to implementation of a new contract of graded payments for the senior players.

The Union minister also said that the infrastructure at Test and ODI centres should be of international standard.

On Dalmiya's allegations that political and government pressure brought about his victory, Pawar said, "I have been in public life for 40 years. I have been heading the state Olympic association for 30 years and some of my predecessors in the sport, like Madhavrao Scindia and Ranbir Singh Mahendra, were in politics. I don't think political affiliations have coloured their functioning."