Financial Assistance to Dramatic Troupes participating in Kala Academy's Annual Tiatr Competition

What is this Tiatr Academy of Goa scheme?

Financial Assistance to Dramatic Troupes participating in Kala Academy's Annual Tiatr Competition is Scheme No. 11 of the Tiatr Academy of Goa (TAG), which functions under the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of Goa.

TAG formulated the scheme in order to encourage non-commercial dramatic troupes participating in Kala Academy's yearly Tiatr Festival to produce tiatrs of better quality. The Academy does not hand over a lump sum to the troupe. Instead, TAG collaborates with the participating troupes and financially supports them, to the extent fixed by TAG, on specific production heads, and pays the money directly to the institution against original bills.

The scheme is a production-support arrangement between two Goa cultural bodies: the competition is run by Kala Academy, and the production assistance comes from the Tiatr Academy of Goa.

Who is eligible for the scheme?

A troupe can apply if:

• It is a dramatic troupe participating in the Tiatr Competitions organised by Kala Academy, and it fulfils the conditions laid down in the scheme.
• It is a non-commercial troupe. The scheme's purpose clause names non-commercial troupes.
• It is a registered institution, since the application form asks for the registration number under the Societies Act and the PAN card of the institution.
• Its tiatr conforms to the traditional format set out in norm 2.
• It applies in the prescribed form 5 days before the performance, with the typed script and typed lyrics.

A troupe cannot apply, or loses the benefit, if:

• The applicants are foreign nationals. Norm 13 says foreign nationals will not be able to avail the benefit of this scheme.
• The tiatr contains adverse remarks, written or verbal, against any Government, individual or institution, or anything against a person's caste, creed or religion which may lead to hurting religious sentiments. If proved, TAG reserves the right to disqualify the performance, refrain from payment, or recall a payment already made.
• The troupe cannot score 40% of marks for Group A or 35% of marks for Group B for overall performance in the competition. Such troupes will not be considered for availing the benefits of this scheme for the next competition.
• The same tiatr is also claiming the "Production of Tiatr in Villages, urban areas and Educational Institutes" scheme. The two cannot be combined for one tiatr.

What format must the tiatr follow?

Norm 2 sets out the traditional format the tiatr must be produced in:

• 6 or 7 acts (podd'dde) with at least 4 cantos, and comedy linked to the story of the play.
• At least 10 kantaram, which should include at least 2 duets, 1 duo, 1 trio, 1 quartet or quintet, 1 choral song and solos.

The application form asks the troupe to declare exactly these numbers; how many podd'ddes, how many cantos, whether the comedy is related to the play, and the number of solos, interactive duets, duos, trios, quartets or quintets and choral songs.

TAG appoints an observer to check that the tiatr is performed as per the traditional format, so the declared numbers are verified at the performance.

What does TAG support financially?

TAG collaborates with the participating troupes and financially supports them, to the extent fixed by TAG, on the following aspects of drama:

1. Direction
2. Stage setting
3. Live band music with at least two blowing instruments
4. Light effects
5. Background music
6. Costumes
7. Make-up
8. Transport

The scheme states this financial support is for the purpose of improving the above aspects of the tiatr. TAG does not publish a rupee amount for any head, so a troupe should ask the TAG office for the current extent of assistance before committing to expenditure.

Bills are paid to the extent of the amount fixed by TAG for the above services directly to the institution. Service providers have to acknowledge the payments with receipts, and receipts must be stamped for amounts exceeding Rs 5,000.

How to apply for assistance

1. Enter Kala Academy's Annual Tiatr Competition and get your performance date and time.
2. Collect the prescribed application form (A / B Group) for Scheme No. 11 from the office of the Tiatr Academy of Goa, Campal, Panaji.
3. Fill in the institution's details — name of the institution, registration number under the Societies Act, address, contact number, PAN card number, name of the tiatr, name of the writer or director with contact, email and address, name of the producer if different, and the date and time of staging.
4. Fill in the format declaration, the number of podd'ddes, the number of cantos, whether the comedy is related to the play, and the number of solos, interactive duets, duos, trios, quartets or quintets and choral songs.
5. Attach one typed copy of the Tiatr script and one typed copy each of the lyrics of the songs. Handwritten copies of the script and lyrics are not accepted.
6. Attach the PAN card of the institution and self-attested copies of the Election Cards of the President and Secretary of the institution, as norm 12 requires.
7. Submit the completed application at the TAG office at least 5 days before your performance, and sign the declarations that you have read the rules, will abide by them, and know you will not be paid if you fail to comply.
8. Announce the collaboration before the performance. Due announcement should be made before the performance that "This Tiatr is staged in collaboration with Tiatr Academy of Goa", and the same line must be inserted in any advertising, oral, print or electronic media publicity, banners, standees or social media.
9. Submit original bills with a statement of expenditure to TAG within 15 days of the performance, during office hours. Late submissions may not be processed.

What TAG does with the recording

In order to preserve the presentation of tiatr for future generations, TAG will video record the tiatr for its library and other uses. Troupes should expect the recording as part of accepting the assistance.

Why claims are rejected

• Application filed later than 5 days before the performance.
• Handwritten script or lyrics. The scheme states clearly that handwritten copies of script and lyrics will not be accepted.
• Bills submitted after 15 days. The scheme asks troupes to ensure bills are submitted on time and warns that late submissions may not be processed.
• Unstamped receipts above Rs 5,000. Service providers must acknowledge payments with stamped receipts for amounts exceeding Rs 5,000.
• Missing PAN of the institution or Election Cards of the President and Secretary.
• Format not followed. The observer appointed by TAG checks that the tiatr is performed as per the traditional format.
• Adverse or communal content, which can lead to disqualification, refusal of payment, or recall of a payment already made.
• Low competition score. Failing 40% for Group A or 35% for Group B bars the troupe from the benefit for the next competition.
• Double-dipping with the "Production of Tiatr in Villages, urban areas and Educational Institutes" scheme for the same tiatr.

Where to ask questions

The Tiatr Academy of Goa is at AS-1 / AS-4, Block A, 2nd Floor, Campal Trade Centre, opposite Kala Academy, Campal, Panaji, Goa 403001, telephones 0832-2230738 and 0832-2230739, email tiatracademy@gmail.com. Kala Academy, which runs the competition itself, is at Campal, Panaji, Goa 403001, on 0832-2420450 to 54.

The scheme text and form are published on the Schemes of TAG page at tiatracademyofgoa.com and are revised for each competition year, so use the current year's PDF. The scheme closes with the note that TAG reserves the right to make any changes in the rules.

How to check your application status

This is an offline, paper-based scheme, so there is no online portal login or SMS tracking for Scheme No. 11. A troupe has to follow up directly with the Tiatr Academy of Goa (TAG) at each of the three stages where a claim can stall.

After you submit the application (before the performance):

• Call the TAG office on 0832-2230738 or 0832-2230739, or email tiatracademy@gmail.com, quoting the institution's name and the date of your Kala Academy performance, to confirm the form and its attachments (typed script, typed lyrics, PAN card, Election Cards of the President and Secretary) were received and found complete.
• Ask specifically whether your submission met the 5-day-before-performance deadline, since a late filing is the most common reason applications do not proceed further.

On the day of the performance:

• Confirm with the TAG-appointed observer or the office that an observer has in fact been assigned to your show, since the observer's report on whether the tiatr matched the declared traditional format (acts, cantos, kantaram) feeds into whether the claim is honoured.
• Note that TAG's video recording of the performance also becomes part of the record TAG holds against your claim.

After you submit bills (within 15 days of the performance):

• Visit the TAG office at Campal Trade Centre, Panaji, in person during office hours, or call the same helpline numbers, to check whether your statement of expenditure and original bills have been logged and are being processed for payment.
• Ask which of the eight supported heads (direction, stage setting, live band music, light effects, background music, costumes, make-up, transport) your bills have been accepted against, since TAG pays out per head rather than as a single lump sum, and one head's bill can be queried or held back while others are cleared.
• If a receipt was for more than Rs 5,000 and was not stamped, expect the office to flag that specific bill; carrying a corrected, stamped receipt back to the office is the fastest way to unstick that part of the payment.
• If TAG has not confirmed receipt of your bills within a few weeks of the 15-day submission window, follow up again rather than assuming silence means approval, since payment is finalised only after TAG's own verification of the bills and the observer's format check.

Because Scheme No. 11 does not publish a payment amount per head and does not run a tracking number system, the phone call or in-person visit to the TAG office remains the only reliable way to know where a claim stands at any of these three stages.