Silpi Pension Scheme, Assam

What is the Silpi Pension Scheme of Assam?

Silpi Pension Scheme is the Government of Assam's pension programme for artists, run by the Directorate of Cultural Affairs under the Cultural Affairs Department. Silpi is the Assamese word for artist, and the scheme exists because a lifetime spent in music, dance, drama, mobile theatre or the fine arts in Assam rarely produces a provident fund, a gratuity or any service pension at the end of it. The scheme is administered through a dedicated portal branded Silpi Sanman Assam (অসম শিল্পী পেঞ্চন) at silpisanmanassam.com, which is the single official channel for applications.

According to the portal, the Directorate invites applications under three heads in the current cycle: Artist Pension, Family Pension, and One-time Special Financial Assistance to Families of the Deceased Artist, most recently for the 2025-26 session. Published scheme material also describes a fourth head, the Barxik Silpi Sanman, an annual ex-gratia honour paid as a one-time grant. The Directorate of Cultural Affairs lists "Artist Pension, Family Pension, Ex-Gratia Grants" among the services it delivers, which matches this structure.

How much is paid. Widely published scheme material lists the artist pension at Rs 8,000 per month, the family pension at Rs 4,000 per month, and the Barxik Silpi Sanman ex-gratia grant at Rs 50,000 as a one-time payment. The Directorate's own portal does not print the rates on its public pages, so treat these figures as the published rate rather than a rate confirmed on a departmental notification, and confirm the current amount with the Directorate of Cultural Affairs before you plan around it. What is not in doubt is that the pension is monthly, recurring, and paid into the applicant's own bank account, which is why the first page of the bank passbook is a compulsory upload.

Which artists count. Scheme material describes the qualifying artist as someone who has made an outstanding contribution in music, dance, fine arts, puppetry or mask making, and expressly extends the definition to artists and technicians associated with mobile theatre, amateur theatre and films. That last inclusion matters in Assam, where the bhramyaman mobile theatre industry employs thousands of performers, musicians, light and sound technicians and stage crew who have no other retirement cover.

Who is eligible for the Silpi Pension Scheme?

The official criteria notice published on the Silpi Pension portal is short and strict. You can apply if:

• You are 60 years of age or above. This is the first line of the notice and it is applied literally.
• You are a permanent resident of Assam.
• You are an artist whose contribution to the art and culture of Assam can be documented with achievement and recognition certificates.
• You have a bank account in your own name and a PAN card, both of which are compulsory uploads.
• You are registering from a mobile number that has not already been used: one applicant with one mobile number can register only once.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible, if:

• You are below 60 years of age and applying for the artist pension. The notice sets no relaxation, and a younger artist in distress should look instead at The Artist Welfare Fund of Assam, which starts at age 20 and is aimed at medical and accident distress rather than old age.
• You are not a permanent resident of Assam, whatever your artistic standing.
• You are trying to register a second time on the same mobile number, or to register a second application for a person already registered.
• You cannot produce achievements and recognition certificates. These are listed as required uploads, not optional ones, so an application without them is incomplete.

For family pension, the claimant is the surviving spouse of a deceased artist. The document list changes: a death certificate of the artiste becomes mandatory, and instead of a single passport photograph the portal asks for a single photograph of the applicant plus a joint photograph of husband and wife. That joint photograph is a practical proof-of-relationship requirement and applicants routinely forget it.

For Divyang (disabled) artistes, a disability certificate is an additional upload.

What documents are required for Silpi Pension in Assam?

The portal's criteria notice lists fourteen items with exact file specifications. Getting the file sizes right is half the job.

Age proof may be a birth certificate, a matriculation, school leaving or transfer certificate from a recognised educational board, Aadhaar, voter ID, PAN card or driving licence. Identity proof may be a passport, Aadhaar, voter ID, driving licence, ration card, bank passbook or a photo identity card.

How to apply for the Silpi Pension Scheme online

1. Open the official portal at silpisanmanassam.com and confirm from the home page that the current session is open, the portal announces the session, for example "for the session 2025-26", and which categories are being accepted.
2. Read the criteria notice linked from the home page before you start. It carries the age bar, the residence requirement, the one-mobile-one-application rule and the full upload list with file sizes.
3. Prepare every file first. Scan or photograph each document, convert the personal documents to JPG under 100 KB and the certificate bundles to PDF under 5 MB. Combine multiple achievement certificates into a single PDF rather than trying to upload several files.
4. Register on the portal using the APPLY HERE option and a mobile number you control. Remember that this mobile number is permanently tied to one application.
5. Log in through the applicant login and open the application form. Choose the correct category: artist pension, family pension, or one-time special financial assistance to the family of a deceased artist.
6. Fill in the form with your name, date of birth, permanent address in Assam, art form, career details, PAN, Aadhaar and bank account particulars.
7. Upload the documents against each labelled slot and check that every upload shows as accepted before moving on.
8. Submit the application and save or print the acknowledgement. Note the application or registration number for follow-up.

There is no offline counter route published for the current session. Artists without internet access should get help from a Common Service Centre or a Public Facilitation Centre, or from the district cultural office, rather than assuming a paper form exists.

How do I check my Silpi Pension application status?

1. Log in to silpisanmanassam.com with the mobile number and password used at registration and open your application record.
2. Use the password recovery option on the login page if you have lost your credentials, rather than registering afresh — a second registration on a new number can get both applications rejected as duplicates.
3. Email the Directorate at silpipensiondca@gmail.com quoting your registered mobile number and application number if the portal shows nothing.
4. Call +91 94011-83996, the number published on the Silpi Pension portal for the Directorate of Cultural Affairs, Guwahati.

Selection under the scheme is a merit assessment made by the Directorate on the strength of documented achievement, not an automatic entitlement on turning 60. A complete application that clears scrutiny is placed before the selection process for that session; artists not selected in one session are not barred from applying in the next.

Why do Silpi Pension applications get rejected?

• Age below 60 on the date of application. The single hardest bar in the scheme.
• Oversized uploads. A JPG above 100 KB or a PDF above 5 MB will not attach, and applicants often submit with slots left empty.
• Illegible bank passbook page, so account number or IFSC cannot be read. This stops payment even after selection.
• No income certificate from the competent revenue authority. A self-written declaration is not the same thing.
• Thin achievement documentation. Achievements and recognitions are the substance of the assessment; a list of performances with no certificates, programme sheets or award records is weak.
• Family pension filed without the death certificate or without the joint husband-and-wife photograph.
• Duplicate registration from the same mobile number.
• Name mismatch between PAN, Aadhaar and the bank account. Fix the mismatch at source before applying, because the pension is paid by bank transfer.

Where do I complain or get help with Silpi Pension?

The Directorate of Cultural Affairs, Government of Assam, is the sanctioning authority and the first point of contact. The Silpi Pension portal publishes silpipensiondca@gmail.com and +91 94011-83996 for queries. For scheme policy questions and for the Directorate's other artist services, including ex-gratia grants and financial assistance. The departmental site at directorculture.assam.gov.in lists the office address and the full list of services.

Silpi Pension registration is free. No agent can get an artist selected, and the Directorate does not authorise anyone to collect money for filling the online form. If you pay a Common Service Centre for help, you are paying for typing and scanning, not for the pension.