Veteran artistes have been invited to apply for an artistes’ pension from the central government.
Eligible artistes should be state or national awardees or categorised/recognised artistes of Akashvani/Doordarshan. They should be able to “substantially” prove their source of earning from art and should not have a personal income (including income of spouse) of more than Rs 4,000 per month (Rs 48,000 per annum). They also need to be not less than 60 years old on the date of the application.
Applications should be submitted in prescribed form through respective state government/Union Territory administrations or concerned zonal cultural centres (ZCCs) with their recommendations. The application form and full details of the Scheme are available on the website of the Union Ministry of Culture www.indiaculture.nic.in
The application may be made online through using the Registration/login Page of Culture Scheme Monitoring System (CSMS) http://csms.nic.in/login/index.php on the website of the Ministry of Culture www.indiaculture.nic.in under the heading of ‘MOC Schemes Application’.
All entries in the application form should be legible and filled clearly. Each page of the application and enclosures should be serially numbered and signed by the applicant.
Till the Ministry of Culture allows/develops fully end-to-end receiving online application process, the hard copy of duly filled-in application form for award of Artistes Pension along with all the necessary enclosures as mentioned in the application form should be sent to “The Director, South Central Zonal Cultural Centre, 56/1, Civil Lines, Opposite MLA’s Hostel, Nagpur, Maharashtra, Pin- 440001” through respective State Government/UT Administrations with their recommendations or concerned Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs) in the prescribed format.