Lok Sabha Question No. 3624 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-08-08
Subject: Financial Assistance to Veteran Artists
Ministry: CULTURE
Asked by: Abdul Majeed Ariff

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CULTURE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3624 TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.08.2022

## FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO VETERAN ARTISTS

## 3624.  Adv. A.M. Ariff:

## Will the MINISTER OF CULTURE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has taken any steps to provide financial assistance to veteran artists of the country and if so, the State-wise number of artists receiving the financial assistance and the amount of pension received during the last three years;
- (b) whether the Government is aware that several veteran artists of the country have not received their monthly pension amounts for the past several months;
- (c) if  so,  whether  the  Government  will  consider  expediting  the  payment  of  pending pension to all the artists;
- (d) whether the Government has entrusted the Life Insurance Corporation of India to disburse the financial assistance to artists; and
- (e) whether  the  Government  has  reviewed  its  performance  and  if  so,  the  details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF CULTURE, TOURISM AND DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EASTERN REGION

## (SHRI G. KISHAN REDDY)

- (a) Yes Sir,  Ministry  of Culture  administers a Scheme by the name of 'Scheme for Financial  Assistance  for  Veteran  Artists  (erstwhile  Scheme  for  Pension  and Medical Aid to Artists)' to provide financial assistance to veteran artists of the age of sixty years and above in the form of monthly artists pension.

The State wise details of artists receiving financial assistance under 'Scheme for Financial Assistance for Veteran Artists' during the last three years are given at Annexure .

- (b) It has been the endeavor of the Government to make continuous efforts to ensure that pension to the beneficiaries is disbursed in a timely manner. The disbursement  of  financial  assistance  to  the  recommended  artists  is  subject  to submission  of  requisite documents,  i.e. Life  and  Income  Certificates.  Non submission of requisite documents from the selected beneficiaries in time, results in delay in disbursal of pension to them.
- (c) Once all the requisite documents are submitted by the beneficiaries, all out efforts are made to disburse the pension expeditiously.
- (d) Yes  Sir,  Ministry  of  Culture  has  entrusted  the  Life  Insurance  Corporation  (LIC) vide  an  MoU  in  2009  for  disbursing  the  monthly  artists  pension  to  selected beneficiaries prior to the year 2017.
- (e) The performance of LIC is reviewed from time to time and advisories are issued to them  for timely disbursal of artists beneficiaries upon  receipt of requisite documents from them and to submit a quarterly report in this regard. To cut down the delay in disbursal of pension to the old artists release of artists pension to the selected  beneficiaries  is  made  by  the  Ministry  itself  upon  receipt  of  requisite documents from them from the year 2017-18.

## Annexure Annexure referred to in Part-(a) of reply to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3624 due for 08.08.2022

State wise details of disbursal under 'Scheme for Financial Assistance for Veteran Artists (erstwhile Scheme for Pension and Medical Aid to Artists)' during last three years

(Amount in rupees Lakh)

| Sl. No.   | States                | FY-2019-20       | FY-2019-20          | FY - 2020-21     | FY - 2020-21        | FY - 2021-22     | FY - 2021-22        |
|-----------|-----------------------|------------------|---------------------|------------------|---------------------|------------------|---------------------|
| Sl. No.   | States                | Amount Disbursed | No of Beneficiaries | Amount Disbursed | No of Beneficiaries | Amount Disbursed | No of Beneficiaries |
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh        | 22.16            | 54                  | 5.1              | 29                  | 72.29            | 89                  |
| 2         | Assam                 | 1.92             | 5                   | 0.96             | 2                   | 0.48             | 1                   |
| 3         | Bihar                 | -                | -                   | -                | -                   | -                | -                   |
| 4         | NCT of Delhi          | -                | -                   | -                | -                   | -                | -                   |
| 5         | Goa                   | -                | -                   | -                | -                   | -                | -                   |
| 6         | Gujarat               | -                | -                   | -                | -                   | -                | -                   |
| 7         | Haryana               | 0.04             | 1                   | -                | -                   | 0.92             | 1                   |
| 8         | Himachal Pradesh      | -                | -                   | -                | -                   | -                | -                   |
| 9         | UT of Jammu & Kashmir | -                | -                   | -                | -                   | -                | -                   |
| 10        | Jharkhand             | 1.11             | 8                   | 2.28             | 8                   | 3.00             | 5                   |
| 11        | Karnataka             | 30.29            | 102                 | 29.97            | 144                 | 59.55            | 146                 |
| 12        | Kerala                | 13.34            | 83                  | 8.18             | 24                  | 24.45            | 57                  |
| 13        | Madhya Pradesh        | 5.41             | 16                  | 2.44             | 6                   | 5.04             | 12                  |
| 14        | Maharashtra           | 85.86            | 324                 | 106.61           | 206                 | 190.49           | 448                 |
| 15        | Manipur               | 3.08             | 13                  | 3.36             | 9                   | 7.84             | 16                  |
| 16        | Meghalaya             | -                | -                   | -                | -                   | -                | -                   |
| 17        | Mizoram               | -                | -                   | -                | -                   | -                | -                   |
| 18        | Nagaland              | 0.04             | 1                   | 0.48             | 1                   | 0.92             | 2                   |
| 19        | Odisha                | 84.04            | 238                 | 119.46           | 355                 | 276.95           | 828                 |
| 20        | Puducherry(UT)        | -                | -                   | -                | -                   | -                | -                   |
| 21        | Punjab                | 0                | -                   | 0                | -                   | -                | -                   |
| 22        | Rajasthan             | 0.87             | 5                   | 0.07             | 2                   | 1.23             | 2                   |
| 23        | Tamil Nadu            | 9.92             | 36                  | 0.87             | 6                   | 15.49            | 22                  |
| 24        | Telangana             | 86.18            | 163                 | 53.2             | 86                  | 217.29           | 342                 |
| 25        | Tripura               | 0.06             | 2                   | 0.24             | 1                   | 0.92             | 2                   |
| 26        | Uttar Pradesh         | 3.2              | 8                   | 5.12             | 9                   | 13.08            | 46                  |
| 27        | Uttarakhand           | -                | -                   | -                | -                   | -                | -                   |
| 28        | West Bengal           | 8.26             | 25                  | 5.09             | 37                  | 12.31            | 32                  |
|           | LIC                   | 1461.78          | 2104                | 527.85           | 1075                | 639.87           | 978                 |
|           | Total                 | 1817.56          | 3188                | 871.28           | 2000                | 1542.12          | 3029                |