Question : PENSION TO AGED ARTISTS

(a) whether the Government has received applications from sick and aged artists recommended by the concerned agencies of the States including Kerala for providing pension to them;

(b) if so, the details of applications received/cleared by the Government and the number of applications pending till date along with the reasons therefor;

(c) the details of the steps taken to clear all the said applications so far, State/UT-wise, including Kerala; and

(d) the time by which the pending applications received from the States including Kerala are likely to be cleared?

MINISTER OF CULTURE (SHRIMATI CHANDRESH KUMARI KATOCH)

(a) Yes, Madam. Under the Scheme of “Financial Assistance to Persons Distinguished in Letters, Arts and such other walks of life who may be in Indigent Circumstances and their Dependents”, applications are received by the Ministry of Culture throughout the year including those from Kerala.

(b)&(c) The above Scheme is being implemented since 1961 and there is a continuous flow of the applications throughout the year. As on date, 3410 individuals are getting financial assistance under this scheme.

Applications received under the Scheme are scrutinized and the applications found complete are forwarded to the Zonal Cultural Centers (ZCCs) for their recommendations. The reports received from ZCCs are placed before the Expert Committee for their recommendations. As on date, there are 2442 applications under scrutiny in ZCCs including 154 applications of Kerala. 148 applications received from ZCCs are pending for placing them before the Expert Committee.

(d) The applications are received throughout the year, and the consideration of application depends upon various factors like completeness of applications, fulfillment of eligibility criteria under the Scheme, recommendation from ZCCs, availability of funds and consideration by the Expert Committee. The time frame for taking a final decision in each case varies accordingly. Efforts are made to dispose them of expeditiously.