The Artist Welfare Fund of Assam

What is The Artist Welfare Fund of Assam?

The Artist Welfare Fund of Assam is a corpus fund created by the Government of Assam to help artists, and their dependents, who fall into financial distress through old age, accident or disease. The fund is governed by a short written regulation titled "The Artist Welfare Fund of Assam", which extends to the whole of Assam, and it is operated by the Assam State Film (Finance and Development) Corporation Ltd (ASFFDC) under the Cultural Affairs Department. The Directorate of Cultural Affairs describes it as a fund to help indigent and ailing artists and technicians, set up jointly by government and the entertainment industry.

How the fund is structured. A separate bank account titled "Artist Welfare (Corpus) Fund" is maintained in a nationalised bank, jointly operated by the Chairperson and the Managing Director of ASFFDC. Under the regulation, Rs 100.00 lakh is kept as a Fixed Deposit to maintain the corpus, and only the interest accrued is used for financial assistance to artists. That single design decision explains most of what an applicant experiences: the fund is permanent, but the amount available for grants in any year is limited to what the deposit earns, and the regulation openly says assistance depends on the financial allocation available.

What the fund is for. The regulation lists four objectives:

• To help artists, or their dependents, in financial distress due to old age, or who are handicapped from accident or disease.
• Medical aid to such artists and their dependents.
• Education for such artists and their dependents, limited to two children.
• Assistance in case of accidents, medical emergency and similar situations.

How much assistance does the Artist Welfare Fund give?

The regulation fixes limits by condition:

Two points follow. First, the ceilings are per condition, not per applicant's bills, a cancer case is capped at Rs 50,000 however large the hospital estimate. Second, the "Others" head is deliberately open, so a serious condition not named in the table is not automatically excluded; it goes to the Advisory Board for a decision.

Who is eligible for the Artist Welfare Fund of Assam?

The regulation sets five conditions, all subject to the approval of the Advisory Board. You can apply if:

• You are an artist in the field of art and culture of the State of Assam.
• You are above 20 years of age, where the applicant is the artist.
• You are an artist in distress. The fund is a distress grant.
• You have made a mark or some achievement in the field of art and culture.
• You can provide artistic credentials supporting that achievement.

Dependents can also be assisted. The regulation defines a dependent as the spouse of a deceased artist, minor sons and daughters, unmarried and non-earning daughters, and parents wholly dependent on the artist.

Who counts as an artist is defined broadly: a person who, with creativity and sensibility, has made substantial contribution in the field of art and culture of the State, and the definition expressly includes cine artists, performing artists of dance, music and drama, visual artists, technicians, sculptors, craftsmen and puppeteers. Technicians are named alongside performers, which matters in Assam's film and mobile theatre industries where crew members are the most exposed and least protected.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible, if:

• You are below 20 years of age and applying in your own right as the artist. A minor child of an artist can still be covered as a dependent.
• You are not in distress. The fund is not a production grant, a fellowship or a project subsidy.
• You cannot document achievement in the art and culture of Assam. Artistic credentials are a stated eligibility condition, not a formality.
• You are outside Assam and outside the art and culture of the State.

The regulation is unusually blunt about discretion: grant of financial assistance from the fund to any artist is not a matter of right, assistance is extended depending on the applicant satisfying eligibility and on the financial allocation available, and the Board reserves the right to reject any application without assigning any reason. Plan accordingly — a strong, complete, well-evidenced application is the only lever an applicant controls.

What documents are required?

How to apply to the Artist Welfare Fund of Assam

1. Collect the prescribed application form from the office of the Assam State Film (Finance and Development) Corporation Ltd, Shilpgram Road, near Sankardev Kalakshetra, Panjabari, Guwahati-37. The regulation names this as the place applicants must apply from; there is no online form.
2. Fill in the form with your personal details, your art form and career record, the nature of the distress, the medical condition if any, and the amount of assistance sought.
3. Attach your artistic credentials, award certificates, felicitation letters, programme sheets, published reviews, film or theatre credits, recognition from cultural bodies. This is the eligibility test the regulation spells out, so give it real weight.
4. Attach the medical file where the claim is medical: the diagnosis, the treating doctor's certificate, hospital records and the treatment estimate or bills. If the condition is cancer, kidney failure or a cardiac procedure, say so clearly, because the regulation attaches a specific ceiling to each.
5. Attach evidence of financial distress and, if you are a dependent applying, the artist's death certificate and proof of your dependency.
6. Submit the complete application at the ASFFDC office and obtain a receipt or diary number.
7. Follow up on the Advisory Board's consideration. Applications are placed before the Advisory Board, which decides on eligibility and quantum.

If it is an emergency, say so at the top of the application. The regulation allows the Chairman or the Managing Director of the Advisory Board, individually, to grant financial assistance up to a limit decided by the Board in cases of death or other similar emergencies warranting immediate assistance. Such sanctions are later put up for ratification at the next Board meeting.

Who decides on Artist Welfare Fund applications?

The Advisory Board of the Artist Welfare Fund comprises officials of the State Government together with leading professionals and artistes from the world of cinema. Under the regulation the Board is made up of:

1. The Chairperson, Assam State Film (Finance & Development) Corporation Ltd.
2. The Commissioner & Secretary, Cultural Affairs, Government of Assam, or a representative not below the rank of Joint Secretary.
3. The Secretary, Finance Department, or a representative not below the rank of Joint Secretary.
4. The Director, Cultural Affairs, Assam.
5. The Managing Director, ASFFDC.
6. Two leading artists.
7. One medical person.

The presence of a medical member and of the Finance Department representative tells you what the Board weighs: the clinical seriousness of the case, and what the corpus can afford.

Why do Artist Welfare Fund applications fail?

• No documented artistic credentials. The most common weakness. Verbal reputation is not evidence; certificates, credits and press records are.
• Applicant is not in distress, or distress is asserted but not evidenced.
• Applicant is below 20 years and applying as the artist rather than as a dependent.
• Wrong form or an incomplete form, the regulation specifies the prescribed format available at the ASFFDC office.
• No medical certificate identifying the condition, so the Board cannot fix the applicable ceiling.
• Dependency not proved where a spouse, child or parent is applying.
• Corpus interest already committed for the period. The fund pays from interest on a Rs 100 lakh deposit, so the annual pool is small relative to demand.

Where do I get help or follow up?

The Assam State Film (Finance and Development) Corporation Ltd at Shilpgram Road, Panjabari, Guwahati-37 is the operating office for the fund and holds the application forms; its departmental site is filmfinance.assam.gov.in, where the regulation itself is published as a downloadable document. The Directorate of Cultural Affairs, Assam, and the Commissioner & Secretary, Cultural Affairs, are represented on the Advisory Board and are the policy authorities for artist welfare in the state.

Artists who are 60 or above and looking for a recurring monthly pension rather than a one-time distress grant should look at the Silpi Pension Scheme run by the Directorate of Cultural Affairs, which is a separate programme with its own online portal. The Artist Welfare Fund is the emergency route; Silpi Pension is the old-age route. Nothing in the regulation bars an artist from being considered under both, at different times and for different needs.