The scheme shall be known as the Scheme for financial assistance to persons distinguished in letters, arts and such other walks of life who may be in indigent circumstances and their dependents. The Scheme will cover the following two types of requests: 

(i)         Existing beneficiaries under the 1961 Scheme.

(ii)        Fresh cases of writers, artists, etc. who are eligible for a grant under the Scheme.

(i)      To be eligible for assistance under the Scheme, a person's contribution to art and letter, etc must be of significance. Traditional scholars who have made significant contribution in their fields would also be eligible notwithstanding the absence of any published works.

(ii)     Personal income of the applicant (including income of the spouse) must not exceed Rs.4000/- per month.

(iii)    The applicant should not be less than 58 years of age (This does not apply in the case of dependents).

Application be made in prescribed Form and sent to the Ministry of Culture, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi through respective State Government/UT Administration. Requests can also be considered directly by the Central Government for granting assistance from Central Quota. Ministry of Culture may make such changes in the Application form as may be felt necessary from time to time.

Assistance from the Government may be in the form of monthly allowance. Such allowance given to artisets recommended under the Centre-State Quota will be shared by the Centre and State Government /UT Administration concerned, with the latter paying a monthly allowance of at least Rs.500/- per month per beneficiary. The monthly allowance contributed by the Central Government in such cases shall not exceed Rs. 3500/- per month per beneficiary and in cases of those categories under Central Quota the assistance shall not exceed Rs.4000/- per month.

(i)        In the light of the recommendations of the State Government/UT Administration, financial means and eminence of the applicants, the assistance to be granted and the awardees under the Centre-State Quota may be decided by the Expert Committee nominated by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India subject to the availability of funds. 

(ii)       The Quantum of assistance met from the "Central Quota" and the awardees will be decided by the Central Government on the recommendations of the Expert Committee after ascertaining the financial position of the applicant. Such cases will invariably be placed before the Minister in charge of the Ministry of Culture for approval.

Centre-State/UT Quota: On finalizing the selection, the Central Government issues the sanctions and also releases its share of assistance direct to the awardees advising at the same time the State Government/ UT Administration concerned to release their share of assistance too. 
Central Quota: For Central Quota cases, the Central Government will release the sanction and will make the payment direct to the awardees.

Subject to the above provisions the recurring monthly allowance sanctioned under the Scheme shall be for such period as may be determined by the Central Government and/ or may be continued on year to year basis on production of Life and Income certificates.

(i)        If the financial means of a recipient improve beyond Rs. 4000/- per month, allowance under the Scheme will be discontinued. 

(ii)       Government may also at its discretion terminate the allowance after giving three months' notice to the recipient.

(iii)      Any recipient may also resign his/ her right to receive allowance by giving written notice to the Government. In such cases, the allowance will be discontinued with effect from the date of his/ her letter of resignation.

On the death of a recipient, the said financial assistance may be continued at the discretion of the Central Government after examining the financial condition of the dependents.

Note

The mode of payment, in case of death of the recipient, of financial assistance will be as under:

For spouse            :     Till life

For dependents     :     Till marriage or employment or 21 years.

Medical Aid

Ministry of Culture may consider payment of hospitalization costs, in the cases of eminent artistes who are in indigent circumstances, by making payment of assistance for the stipulated period in advance at the prevailing rates.

Ms Veena Kalra(SO), 333-C, Shastri Bhawan, Phone No: 23070767.