New Delhi: Ministry of Culture administers a Scheme by the name of ‘Financial Assistance for Veteran Artists’ to provide financial assistance to veteran artists aged 60 years and above having annual income not exceeding Rs 72,000.
The selected artist is provided maximum financial assistance of Rs 6000 per month.
The scheme is meant to provide financial assistance for improving the financial and socio-economic status of the old artistes and scholars who have contributed significantly in their active age or are still contributing in the field of arts, letters etc. but due to old age are unable to generate a steady income.
However, the financial assistance being provided to the artists under the scheme is not any kind of pension in the conventional sense governed by CCS (pension) rules.
Financial Assistance for Veteran Artists: State-wise details of funds distributed to the veteran artists under the scheme during the last five years are as under:
| (Rs. In Lakh) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sl. No. | States | FY-2019-20 | FY-2020-21 | FY-2021-22 | FY-2022-23 | FY – 2023-24 |
| Amount Disbursed | Amount Disbursed | Amount Disbursed | Amount Disbursed | Amount Disbursed | ||
| 1 | Andhra Pradesh | 22.16 | 5.10 | 72.29 | 84.66 | 153.30 |
| 2 | Assam | 1.92 | 0.96 | 0.48 | 1.57 | 2.41 |
| 3 | Bihar | – | – | – | – | 15.47 |
| 4 | Delhi | – | – | – | – | 5.87 |
| 5 | Haryana | 0.04 | – | 0.93 | 0.56 | 3.69 |
| 7 | Jharkhand | 1.11 | 2.28 | 3.00 | 3.59 | 3.88 |
| 8 | Karnataka | 30.29 | 29.97 | 59.55 | 64.32 | 341.98 |
| 9 | Kerala | 13.34 | 8.18 | 24.49 | 25.30 | 64.21 |
| 10 | Madhya Pradesh | 5.41 | 2.44 | 5.04 | 3.86 | 6.95 |
| 11 | Maharashtra | 85.86 | 106.61 | 190.49 | 273.49 | 795.97 |
| 12 | Manipur | 3.08 | 3.36 | 7.84 | 0.60 | 14.70 |
| 13 | Nagaland | 0.04 | 0.48 | 0.92 | 0.12 | 3.28 |
| 14 | Odisha | 84.04 | 119.46 | 276.95 | 306.77 | 1063.40 |
| 16 | Rajasthan | 0.87 | 0.07 | 1.23 | 0.71 | 1.36 |
| 17 | Tamil Nadu | 9.92 | 0.87 | 15.49 | 14.60 | 46.96 |
| 18 | Telangana | 86.18 | 53.20 | 217.29 | 268.16 | 274.94 |
| 19 | Tripura | 0.06 | 0.24 | 0.92 | 0.12 | – |
| 20 | Uttar Pradesh | 3.20 | 5.12 | 13.08 | 15.46 | 67.24 |
| 21 | Uttarakhand | – | – | – | – | 2.43 |
| 22 | West Bengal | 8.26 | 5.09 | 12.31 | 11.71 | 28.53 |
| Total | 355.82 | 343.46 | 902.30 | 1075.60 | 2896.57 | |
| LIC* | 1461.78 | 527.85 | 639.87 | 783.58 | – | |
| G. Total | 1817.60 | 871.31 | 1542.17 | 1859.18 | 2896.57 |
The quantum of financial assistance under the scheme has been enhanced from Rs. 4000/- per month to Rs. 6000/- per month with effect from June, 2022.
The requirement of submitting income certificate every year has now been done away with and instead it is now required to be submitted once in five years.
Earlier, the applicant artist applying under the scheme should have been mandatorily be a recipient of artists pension of at least Rs. 500/- per month from the concerned State Government/UT Administration. This condition has been relaxed and now also provides for verification and recommendation of the artistic credentials by the concerned Zonal Cultural Centre (ZCC), Ministry of Culture in case the applicant is not a recipient of artists pension from the State Govt./UT Administration.
To ensure smooth and timely disbursal of financial assistance to the selected artists, an MoU has been signed with Canara Bank on 28.06.2023.