Kalakar Kritadnyata Nidhi: Pandemics

What is Kalakar Kritadnyata Nidhi (Pandemics)?

Kalakar Kritadnyata Nidhi is a fund of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of Goa, whose name translates roughly as a fund of gratitude to artists. The Pandemics component of that fund was created for a very specific emergency: Goan artists who make a living from live performance and public gatherings lost their entire income when the COVID-19 pandemic shut those gatherings down.

Kalakar Kritadnyata Nidhi (Pandemics) pays a one-time lumpsum of between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000 to aged and needy Goan artists who lost their source of income because of the pandemic. It is relief, not a pension. A single payment decided case by case by a sub-committee.

The scheme covers a wide sweep of Goa's cultural practice: music, dance, drama, tiatr, folk arts, kirtan, bhajan, painting, sculpture, literature, cantarists, sahittik, poets, photographers and traditional handicraft.

Key features

• One-time lumpsum between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000 per artist.
• Individual income ceiling of Rs 1,50,000 per annum from all sources.
• Applicant must be above 18 and a resident of Goa.
• Paid by Electronic Clearing Service into a nationalised bank account.
• Applications received offline at Sanskruti Bhavan, Patto, Panaji.

Who is eligible for Kalakar Kritadnyata Nidhi (Pandemics)?

You can apply if:

• You are a resident of Goa and above 18 years of age.
• You lost your source of income because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Your individual income from all sources does not exceed Rs 1,50,000 per annum.
• You are working and contributing in a field of art and culture, music, dance, drama, tiatr, folk, kirtan, bhajan, painting, sculpture, literature, poetry, photography, traditional handicraft and similar fields.
• You are solely dependent on art-related activities and programmes.
• You are in need of the assistance the scheme contemplates.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible, if:

• You are a government employee, an employee of an autonomous body or corporation, or a pensioner of any organisation.
• You are a Kala Samman beneficiary drawing a monthly pension from the Department of Art and Culture.
• You are receiving any other pension or financial assistance from the Central or State Government.
• You are employed on a regular payroll in a private agency, company or institution. Contract and daily-wage employees are considered, provided their individual income from all sources stays within Rs 1,50,000 a year.
• Your income from all sources exceeds Rs 1,50,000 a year.

What documents are required?

For the loss of income and the sole-dependence conditions, the scheme accepts either documentary proof or a self-signed affidavit or declaration — a practical concession, since a performing artist rarely has a payslip to show what was lost.

How to apply for Kalakar Kritadnyata Nidhi (Pandemics)

1. Visit the office of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Sanskruti Bhavan, Patto, Panaji, Goa, and collect the prescribed application form for the scheme.
2. Fill in all mandatory fields, and attach self-attested copies of the domicile certificate, proof of age, income certificate and proof of recent contribution in the field of art and culture.
3. Attach the self-signed affidavit on Rs 50 stamp paper declaring your individual income from all sources, along with declarations covering the loss of income due to the pandemic and your sole dependence on art-related activities.
4. Submit the completed application form with all documents directly to the Directorate of Art and Culture at Sanskruti Bhavan, and keep a copy of everything submitted.

How are applications processed?

Kalakar Kritadnyata Nidhi (Pandemics) is decided by a committee rather than by a fixed formula, so the processing sequence matters:

1. The Directorate forwards the application to a sub-committee for detailed scrutiny, and the Director gives recommendations to that sub-committee.
2. The sub-committee considers the applications received, recommends the applicants it finds fit, and decides the quantum of assistance for each artist within the Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 band.
3. Government approval is obtained for the disbursement of the assistance.
4. The Director disburses the one-time amount to the applicant through Electronic Clearing System mode into the nationalised bank account.

Because the quantum is discretionary, two artists with similar profiles can receive different amounts. The sub-committee weighs need, and the proof of recent contribution to art and culture is the document that most strongly supports a claim.

Why applications get rejected

• Income above Rs 1,50,000 a year from all sources, disclosed in the affidavit or found at verification.
• Regular employment with the government, a corporation, an autonomous body or a private employer's payroll.
• Already drawing a pension or financial assistance from the Centre or the State, including a Kala Samman monthly pension.
• No proof of recent contribution in the field of art and culture, so active practice cannot be established.
• Affidavit not on Rs 50 stamp paper, or unsigned.
• Bank account not with a nationalised bank, which prevents the ECS transfer the scheme prescribes.

Is this scheme still open?

Kalakar Kritadnyata Nidhi (Pandemics) is by design a pandemic relief component tied to the loss of income caused by COVID-19. Its parent fund, Kalakar Kritadnyata Nidhi, and the Directorate's other artist welfare measures such as Kala Samman continue independently. Before preparing an application, confirm with the Directorate of Art and Culture whether the Pandemics component is currently receiving applications, because no closing date has been published for it either way.

Where to get help

• Directorate of Art and Culture, Sanskruti Bhavan, Patto, Panaji, Goa.
• Phone: 0832-2404600.
• Email: dir-dac[dot]goa[at]nic[dot]in
• Schemes and Programmes section on artandculture.goa.gov.in, which lists the Directorate's full set of artist and institution schemes.

There is no fee to apply, and no agent can influence the sub-committee's recommendation. Any grievance about the scheme's implementation follows the Directorate's normal route, and for several Art and Culture schemes the final authority on a grievance is the Minister for Art and Culture.

A note on scope

This is a Tier 3 relief component with a narrow, well-defined published framework, an income test, an age test, a residence test, a list of covered art forms, a document checklist and a committee-decided lumpsum. This guide sets out that framework in full and does not extend it. Artists looking for continuing support rather than one-time relief should look at the Directorate's separate schemes, including the assistance for students seeking education outside Goa and the grant for long-term projects in the field of art and culture.

How to check your application status

Kalakar Kritadnyata Nidhi (Pandemics) is an offline scheme with no online tracking portal, so status checking works through direct contact with the Directorate rather than a login or reference number lookup.

Keep your acknowledgment safe. When you submit the form at Sanskruti Bhavan, ask the receiving official for a dated acknowledgment or a receipt number for your file. This is the only reference you will have to quote later, since the scheme does not issue a separate tracking ID.

Follow up by phone first. Call the Directorate of Art and Culture on 0832-2404600 and quote your name, the scheme name and the date of submission. Because the sub-committee reviews applications in batches rather than on a fixed timeline, staff can tell you whether your file has reached the sub-committee stage, is awaiting the Director's recommendation, or has already gone for government approval.

Visit in person if the phone route stalls. Sanskruti Bhavan, Patto, Panaji is the same office where the application was filed, so a visit lets you check the physical file status directly and, if needed, submit any document the office says is missing.

Watch your bank account. Since disbursement is made through Electronic Clearing Service straight into the applicant's nationalised bank account, an unexplained credit matching the Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 band is often the first confirmation that the sub-committee has approved the case and government approval has come through. If nothing arrives after a reasonable interval and the office cannot give a clear update, the email address (dir-dac[dot]goa[at]nic[dot]in) can be used to request a written status update, which is useful if you need to escalate the matter later.

Do not assume rejection from silence. Because this is a discretionary, committee-based scheme with no published processing deadline, a long wait by itself does not mean the application has been turned down. Confirm the actual status with the Directorate before reapplying or assuming the case is closed.