Lok Sabha Question No. 143 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-02-03
Subject: Scheme for Financial Assistance for Veteran Artists
Ministry: CULTURE
Asked by: Shri Balwant Baswant Wankhade, Shri Omprakash Bhupalsinh Alias Pavan Rajenimbalkar, Shri Arvind Ganpat Sawant, Shri Sanjay Uttamrao Deshmukh, Shri Sanjay Haribhau Jadhav

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CULTURE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 143 ANSWERED ON 03.02.2025

## 'Scheme for Financial Assistance for Veteran Artists'

## 143. Shri Omprakash Bhupalsinh Alias Pavan Rajenimbalkar

Shri Arvind Ganpat Sawant

Shri Sanjay Haribhau Jadhav

Shri Sanjay Uttamrao Deshmukh

Shri Balwant Baswant Wankhade:

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

- (a)  the details of the veteran artists in the country and whether the Government has taken cognizance of interests of the said artists and if so, the details thereof;
- (b)  whether any scheme for financial assistance of veteran artists is in place in the Country, if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  whether  any  pension  is  being  provided  to  the  veteran  artists  under  the  said scheme, if so, the details thereof, State-wise including Maharashtra;
- (d)  the criteria set and policy framed therefor;
- (e)  the  number  of  artists  selected  under  the  scheme  for  Financial  Assistance  for veteran  artists  during  the  last  ten  years  along  with  the  details  of  amount  of monthly pension, State-wise;
- (f) the number of veteran artists being provided with financial assistance under the said scheme in Maharashtra, district-wise;
- (g)  the  number  of  details  of  pending  pension  applications  received  under  the  said scheme from various  States  including  Maharashtra  during  each  of  the  last  five years, State-wise;
- (h)  whether several veteran artists of Maharashtra are not getting the amount of their pension for the last two years despite submitting the necessary documents, if so, the reasons therefor;
- (i) the  total  amount  of  pension  lying  pending  for  payment  to  the  said  artists  of Maharashtra till December 2024; and
- (j) whether the Government proposes to pay the pending amount of pension to all such artists expeditiously and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF CULTURE AND TOURISM

## (SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT)

(a)  to  (c)  The  Ministry  of  Culture  administers  a  Scheme  by  the  name  of  'Financial Assistance for Veteran Artists' with the objective to support old and poor artists.  The financial assistance being provided to the artists under the scheme is not any kind of pension  in  the  conventional  sense.  Instead,  it  is  meant  as  a  grant  in  the  form  of financial assistance provided 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. Under the scheme, financial assistance is provided upto maximum  Rs.  6000/-  per  month  to  the  selected  artists  of  all  States/UTs  including Maharashtra. However, artist pension if any, is received by the selected artists from their  respective  State  Government/UT  Administration,  the  same  is  deducted  before release of the assistance to such artists.

(d) The scheme guidelines provide for the following eligibility criteria for consideration of financial assistance to the applicant under the scheme:

- i. Traditional scholars who have made significant contribution to art & letters, etc. in their fields
- ii. Annual income of the applicant must not exceed Rs. 72,000/-
- iii. The applicant artist should not be less than 60 years of age.
- iv. The applicant artist should be a recipient of artists pension of at least Rs. 500/- per month from the concerned State Government/UT Administration, or the artistic credentials of the applicant is verified and recommended by Art & Cultural Department of the concerned State / UTs or the concerned Zonal Cultural Centre (ZCC), Ministry of Culture.
- v. The  applicant  artist  should  not  be  getting  financial  assistance  under  any other scheme of the Ministry of Culture.

(e)  The  number  of  artists  supported  and  quantum  of  financial  assistance  provided under the scheme during the last 10 years is at Annexure-A (a) &  A (b).

(f) The number of artists selected from Maharashtra under the Scheme during the last three years is given at Annexure - B

(g) to (j) Release of financial assistance to the selected artists under the 'Scheme for Financial Assistance for Veteran Artists' depends on submission of certain mandatory documents  such  as,  Digital  Life  Certificate  (DLC)  once  in  a  year,  annual  income certificate once in every five years, documents showing receipt of artist pension, if any, from the concerned State Government/UT Administration. Once the requisite mandatory documents are received from the selected artists, which are a continuous process throughout the year, all efforts are made to disburse the financial assistance expeditiously. Accordingly, the number of veteran artists from the State of Maharashtra getting Financial Assistance under the scheme during last five years is given below:

| Financial Year      |   Number of Veteran Artist supported |   Amount disbursed (Rs. in Lakh) |
|---------------------|--------------------------------------|----------------------------------|
| 2021-22             |                                  448 |                           190.49 |
| 2022-23             |                                  740 |                           273.49 |
| 2023-24             |                                 1239 |                           795.97 |
| 2024-25 (till date) |                                 1248 |                           450.28 |

*****

## Annexure A (a)

## Annexure referred in reply to part (e) of LSUSQ No. 143 answered on 03.02.2025

| Sl No.   | States                |   FY - 2014-15 |   FY - 2015-16 |   FY - 2016-17 |   FY - 2017-18 |
|----------|-----------------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh        |            304 |            295 |            312 |            324 |
| 2        | Assam                 |             28 |             28 |             34 |             37 |
| 3        | Bihar                 |             38 |             38 |             41 |             41 |
| 4        | NCT of Delhi          |             38 |             38 |             42 |             42 |
| 5        | Goa                   |              7 |              7 |              8 |              8 |
| 6        | Gujarat               |              5 |              5 |              5 |              5 |
| 7        | Haryana               |             28 |             28 |             28 |             29 |
| 8        | Himachal Pradesh      |              6 |              6 |              6 |              6 |
| 9        | UT of Jammu & Kashmir |              0 |              0 |              2 |              2 |
| 10       | Jharkhand             |              6 |              6 |              7 |             13 |
| 11       | Karnataka             |            613 |            588 |            673 |            673 |
| 12       | Kerala                |            219 |            212 |            288 |            315 |
| 13       | Madhya Pradesh        |             30 |             30 |             45 |             48 |
| 14       | Maharashtra           |            760 |            684 |            871 |            871 |
| 15       | Manipur               |            109 |             97 |            117 |            124 |
| 16       | Meghalaya             |              1 |              1 |              1 |              1 |
| 17       | Mizoram               |              4 |              4 |              5 |              5 |
| 18       | Nagaland              |              0 |              0 |              2 |              2 |
| 19       | Odisha                |            218 |            198 |            241 |            241 |
| 20       | Puducherry (UT)       |              6 |              6 |              6 |              6 |
| 21       | Punjab                |              3 |              3 |              7 |              7 |
| 22       | Rajasthan             |              3 |              3 |             14 |             14 |
| 23       | Tamil Nadu            |            185 |            165 |            229 |            229 |
| 24       | Telangana             |             90 |             90 |            103 |            103 |
| 25       | Tripura               |              0 |              0 |              0 |              1 |
| 26       | Uttar Pradesh         |            198 |            188 |            201 |            202 |
| 27       | Uttarakhand           |              8 |              8 |             11 |             11 |
| 28       | West Bengal           |             60 |             60 |             77 |             77 |
|          | Total                 |           2967 |           2788 |           3376 |           3437 |

| Total Financial Assistance released from 2014-15 to 2017-18*   | Total Financial Assistance released from 2014-15 to 2017-18*   |
|----------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|
| Financial Year                                                 | Amount (Rs. In crore)                                          |
| 2014-2015                                                      | 15.63                                                          |
| 2015-2016                                                      | 13.86                                                          |
| 2016-2017                                                      | 13.17                                                          |
| 2017-2018                                                      | 15.30                                                          |

## Annexure referred in reply to part (e) of LSUSQ No. 143 answered on 03.02.2025

| Sl. No.   | States                | FY - 2018-19          | FY - 2018-19           | FY-2019-20             | FY-2019-20             | FY - 2020-21         | FY - 2020-21           | FY - 2021-22           | FY - 2021-22           | FY - 2022-23           | FY - 2022-23            |                         | FY - 2023-24            |
|-----------|-----------------------|-----------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|----------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh        | Amount Disbursed 6.49 | No of Beneficiaries 41 | Amount Disbursed 22.16 | No of Beneficiaries 54 | Amount Disbursed 5.1 | No of Beneficiaries 29 | Amount Disbursed 72.29 | No of Beneficiaries 89 | Amount Disbursed 84.66 | No of Beneficiaries 148 | Amount Disbursed 153.30 | No of Beneficiaries 191 |
| 2         | Assam                 | 1.68                  | 4                      | 1.92                   |                        | 0.96                 | 2                      | 0.48                   | 1                      | 1.57                   | 1                       | 2.41                    |                         |
|           |                       |                       |                        |                        | 5                      |                      |                        |                        |                        |                        |                         |                         | 3                       |
| 3         | Bihar                 | -                     | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                    | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                       | 15.47                   | 14                      |
| 4         | NCT of Delhi          | -                     | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                    | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                       | 5.87                    | 8                       |
| 5         | Goa                   | -                     | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                    | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                       | -                       | -                       |
| 6         | Gujarat               | -                     | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                    | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                       | -                       | -                       |
| 7         | Haryana               | 0.44                  | 7                      | 0.04                   | 1                      | -                    | -                      | 0.93                   | 1                      | 0.56                   | 2                       | 3.69                    | 4                       |
| 8         | Himachal Pradesh      | -                     |                        | -                      | -                      | -                    | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                       | -                       | -                       |
| 9         | UT of Jammu & Kashmir | -                     | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                    | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                       | -                       | -                       |
| 10        | Jharkhand             | 2.57                  | 42                     | 1.11                   | 8                      | 2.28                 | 8                      | 3.00                   | 5                      | 3.59                   | 7                       | 3.88                    | 4                       |
| 11        | Karnataka             | 64.42                 | 168                    | 30.29                  | 102                    | 29.97                | 144                    | 59.55                  | 146                    | 64.32                  | 130                     | 341.98                  | 344                     |
| 12        | Kerala                | 27.57                 | 108                    | 13.34                  | 83                     | 8.18                 | 24                     | 24.49                  | 57                     | 25.3                   | 51                      | 64.21                   | 67                      |
| 13        | Madhya Pradesh        | 2.64                  | 45                     | 5.41                   | 16                     | 2.44                 | 6                      | 5.04                   | 12                     | 3.86                   | 6                       | 6.95                    | 7                       |
| 14        | Maharashtra           | 72.82                 | 234                    | 85.86                  | 324                    | 106.61               | 206                    | 190.49                 | 448                    | 273.49                 | 740                     | 795.97                  | 1239                    |
| 15        | Manipur               | 4.48                  | 11                     | 3.08                   | 13                     | 3.36                 | 9                      | 7.84                   | 16                     | 0.6                    | 5                       | 14.7                    | 13                      |
| 16        | Meghalaya             | -                     | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                    | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                       | -                       | -                       |
| 17        | Mizoram               | -                     | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                    | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                       | -                       | -                       |
| 18        | Nagaland              | 0.16                  | 1                      | 0.04                   | 1                      | 0.48                 | 1                      | 0.92                   | 2                      | 0.12                   | 1                       | 3.28                    | 2                       |
| 19        | Odisha                | 156.28                | 436                    | 84.04                  | 238                    | 119.46               | 355                    | 276.95                 | 828                    | 306.77                 | 966                     | 1063.40                 | 1460                    |
| 20        | Puducherry (UT)       | -                     | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                    | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                       | -                       | -                       |
| 21        | Punjab                | -                     | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                    | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                       | -                       | -                       |
| 22        | Rajasthan             | 1.27                  | 10                     | 0.87                   | 5                      | 0.07                 | 2                      | 1.23                   | 2                      | 0.71                   | 2                       | 1.36                    | 2                       |
| 23        | Tamil Nadu            | 19.58                 | 45                     | 9.92                   | 36                     | 0.87                 | 6                      | 15.49                  | 22                     | 14.6                   | 21                      | 46.96                   | 41                      |
| 24        | Telangana             | 72.2                  | 181                    | 86.18                  | 163                    | 53.2                 | 86                     | 217.29                 | 342                    | 268.16                 | 489                     | 274.94                  | 293                     |
| 25        | Tripura               | 0.78                  | 2                      | 0.06                   | 2                      | 0.24                 | 1                      | 0.92                   | 2                      | 0.12                   | 1                       | -                       | -                       |
| 26        | Uttar Pradesh         | 1.8                   | 21                     | 3.2                    | 8                      | 5.12                 | 9                      | 13.08                  | 46                     | 15.46                  | 58                      | 67.24                   | 82                      |
| 27        | Uttarakhand           | -                     | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                    | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                      | -                       | 2.43                    | 2                       |
| 28        | West Bengal           | 10.71                 | 46                     | 8.26                   | 25                     | 5.09                 | 37                     | 12.31                  | 32                     | 11.71                  | 27                      | 28.53 2896.57           | 35 3811                 |
|           | Total                 | 445.93                | 1356                   | 355.82                 | 1084                   | 343.46               | 925                    | 902.30                 | 2051                   | 1075.6                 | 2655                    |                         | 0                       |
|           | LIC                   | 1527.66               | 2764                   | 1461.78                | 2104                   | 527.85               | 1075                   | 639.87                 | 978                    | 783.58                 | 996                     | 0                       |                         |

FY - 2023-24

| Grand Total   | 1973.59   | 4120   | 1817.6   | 3188   | 871.31   | 2000   | 1542.17   | 3029   | 1859.18   | 3651   | 2896.57   | 3811   |
|---------------|-----------|--------|----------|--------|----------|--------|-----------|--------|-----------|--------|-----------|--------|

## ANNEXURE - B

## Annexure referred in reply to part (f) of LSUSQ No. 143 answered on 03.02.2025

| Sl. No.   | District   |   2022 |   2023 |   2024 |
|-----------|------------|--------|--------|--------|
| 1         | Ahmednagar |     12 |      1 |      0 |
| 2         | Akola      |      0 |      0 |      0 |
| 3         | Amravati   |      0 |      1 |      1 |
| 4         | Aurangabad |    137 |     36 |      7 |
| 5         | Beed       |     30 |     14 |      4 |
| 6         | Bhandara   |     12 |      9 |      0 |
| 7         | Buldhana   |      5 |      6 |      1 |
| 8         | Chandrapur |      7 |      5 |      0 |
| 9         | Dhule      |     40 |     18 |      1 |
| 10        | Gadchiroli |      1 |      2 |      0 |
| 11        | Gondia     |      2 |      4 |      0 |
| 12        | Hingoli    |     18 |      6 |      5 |
| 13        | Jalgaon    |      4 |      1 |      0 |
| 14        | Jalna      |     52 |     28 |      5 |
| 15        | Kolhapur   |     14 |      0 |      0 |
| 16        | Latur      |     12 |      8 |      7 |
| 17        | Mumbai     |      5 |      1 |      0 |
| 18        | Nagpur     |     63 |     28 |      3 |
| 19        | Nanded     |     59 |     52 |     14 |
| 20        | Nandurbar  |      2 |      0 |      0 |
| 21        | Nashik     |     11 |      6 |      1 |
| 22        | Osmanabad  |     13 |      1 |      0 |
| 23        | Palghar    |      0 |      0 |      0 |
| 24        | Parbhani   |     20 |     21 |      9 |
| 25        | Pune       |      3 |      1 |      2 |
| 26        | Raigad     |      3 |      1 |      0 |
| 27        | Ratnagiri  |      0 |      0 |      0 |
| 28        | Sangli     |      8 |      2 |      1 |
| 29        | Satara     |      1 |      0 |      0 |
| 30        | Sindhudurg |      0 |      1 |      0 |
| 31        | Solapur    |      4 |      2 |      1 |
| 32        | Thane      |      0 |      2 |      0 |
| 33        | Wardha     |      0 |      2 |      0 |
| 34        | Washim     |      5 |      3 |      0 |
| 35        | Yavatmal   |      5 |      6 |      6 |
|           | Total      |    548 |    268 |     68 |