Lok Sabha Question No. 21 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-21
Subject: Financial Assistance to the Veteran Artists in Andhra Pradesh
Ministry: CULTURE
Asked by: Dr. C M Ramesh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CULTURE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 21 ANSWERED ON 21.07.2025

## 'Financial Assistance to the Veteran Artists in Andhra Pradesh'

21. Shri Dr. C M Ramesh :

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

- (a) Whether it is true that total number of 962 proposals received from Andhra Pradesh for providing pension/financial assistance for artists who have now become old during the last five years i.e., from 2019-20 to 2023-24;
- (b) if so, the details of applications received year and district-wise;
- (c) whether it is true that majority of applications have been rejected by the Government;
- (d) if so, the details thereof along with the reasons therefor;
- (e) whether the Government is contemplating to be a bit lenient towards these artists since they had contributed in keeping our culture, art and traditions alive; and
- (f) the  details  of  applications  received  in  2024-25  and  in  the  first  six  months  of  current financial year?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF CULTURE AND TOURISM

(SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT)

- (a), (b), (c) & (d) The total number of proposals received, approved and rejected from the state of  Andhra  Pradesh  under  the  'Scheme  for  Financial  Assistance  for  Veteran  Artists'  for consideration for grant of financial assistance during the last five years, i.e. from 2019-20 to 2023-24 are given below. The district-wise data of proposals received under the scheme is not maintained in this Ministry.

|   Sl. No. | Year    |   Proposals received |   Proposals approved |   Proposals rejected |
|-----------|---------|----------------------|----------------------|----------------------|
|         1 | 2019-20 |                  177 |                   35 |                  142 |
|         2 | 2020-21 |                   52 |                   34 |                   18 |
|         3 | 2021-22 |                  233 |                   91 |                  142 |
|         4 | 2022-23 |                  218 |                   33 |                  185 |
|         5 | 2023-24 |                  291 |                   38 |                  253 |

The  proposals  found  incomplete  due  to  non-submission  of  recommendations  of  the  Art  & Culture Department of State Government/UT administration or the concerned Zonal Cultural Centre  (ZCC)  under  this  Ministry,  lack  of  requisite  documents  and  artistic  credentials  are rejected.

- (e)   Recognizing the significant contribution by the artists in promotion of our art and culture, and  to  mitigate  the  hardships  faced  by  the  selected  artists,  the  following  actions  have  been taken by the Ministry in the recent years:
- (i)   The  quantum  of  financial  assistance  under  the  scheme  has  been  enhanced  from  Rs. 4000/- per month to Rs. 6000/- per month w.e.f. June, 2022;
- (ii)  The requirement of submitting income certificate every year has now been done away 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  atleast  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.

The above efforts have led to an increase in the annual disbursement from           Rs. 8.71 Cr. for 2000 artists in the financial year 2020-21 to Rs. 26.09 Cr. for 4636 artists in 202425.

- (f)          A  total  of  3182  applications  have  been  received  during  the  year  2024-25  and  in  the current financial year, 2025-26 (till 15-07-2025).

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