The Ministry of Culture administers a Scheme by the name of ‘Financial Assistance for Veteran Artists’ under which financial assistance upto Rs. 6000/- per month is provided to veteran artists aged 60 years and above having annual income not exceeding Rs. 72,000/- 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.
Applications received, recommended and approved from Yavatmal & Washim Districts of Maharashtra under the scheme during the period 2018 to 2024 are annexed.
It has been the constant endeavor of the Government to make efforts to help the veteran artists to receive financial assistance under the scheme. The following actions have been taken during the last few years to mitigate the hardships of the beneficiaries under the scheme:
(i) 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,
(ii) 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,
(iii) 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.
(iv) 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.
This information was given by Union Minister for Culture and Tourism Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
ANNEXURE
Year | Applications | Application Recommended & Approved | ||
Yavatmal District | Washim District | Yavatmal District | Washim District | |
2018-19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2019-20 | 16 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
2020-21 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
2021-22 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 5 |
2022-23 | 30 | 13 | 6 | 3 |
2023-24 | 97 | 10 | 6 | 0 |
Total | 159 | 31 | 24 | 8 |
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