Lifetime Contribution to Tiatr Awards (Commercial)

What is the Lifetime Contribution to Tiatr Award (Commercial)?

Lifetime Contribution to Tiatr Awards (Commercial) is scheme number 32 in the list of 41 schemes run by the Tiatr Academy of Goa (TAG), the autonomous body set up by the Government of Goa in 2009 under the Department of Art and Culture. The award recognises artistes "who have contributed immensely for the development of tiatr, its song and music in the past", in the words of the scheme document.

This is the commercial-stage version of the award. TAG runs three parallel lifetime awards under separate scheme numbers; Lifetime Contribution to Tiatr Awards (Non-Commercial) as scheme 33, Lifetime Contribution to Khell/Khell-Tiatr Awards as scheme 34, and Lifetime Contribution to Konkani Cinema Awards as scheme 35. An artiste can receive only one of these in a lifetime.

What the award carries

• A shawl
• A memento
• A citation
• A cash award as fixed by the Tiatr Academy of Goa

TAG has not published the rupee value of the cash award in the scheme document. The phrase used is "a Cash Award as fixed by TAG", so it is set by the academy and can change from year to year.

When it is given

The selected artistes are honoured at a special function organised on 14 December every year, the birth anniversary of Joao Agostinho Fernandes, who is regarded as the Father of Tiatr. Rule 5 requires the selected artiste to be compulsorily present in person to receive the award.

Who is eligible and who is not eligible for this award?

An artiste can be considered if:

• They are not less than 60 years of age. The age limit may be relaxed if the artist's health is not well.
• They have at least 20 years of contribution in the field of tiatr.
• As an actor, singer, stage manager, lights provider, make-up artist, costume designer, live music or background music person, organiser or contractor, they have performed in at least 30 tiatrs.
• As a writer or director, they have written or directed at least 20 tiatrs.

An artiste is not eligible if:

• They have already received a Lifetime Contribution award from TAG in any stream; Tiatr (Commercial or Non-Commercial), Khell, Khell-Tiatr or Konkani Cinema. Rule 7 limits the honour to once in a lifetime.
• They cannot be present in person at the 14 December function. Attendance is compulsory under rule 5.
• Their record falls short of the 20-year contribution threshold, or of the 30 tiatrs (performers and technicians) or 20 tiatrs (writers and directors) count.

Beyond the numeric thresholds, rule 2 lists the qualitative aspects the selectors weigh: whether the artiste was an excellent actor, script writer, director, singer, lyricist or set designer; whether they received awards in their field; whether they introduced any innovation on the tiatr stage; whether, as a singer or musician, their kantaram are recorded on records, cassettes, CDs, DVDs or online; whether they have worked on dramas in other languages or in films; and whether, as a script writer or lyricist, they have published books of their scripts or lyrics.

How do I apply or nominate an artiste for the Lifetime Contribution to Tiatr Award?

1. Watch for the newspaper advertisement. Selection is done through recommendations from individuals and institutions and also through advertisements in local newspapers, so the advertisement marks the window.
2. Download the recommendation form for scheme 32 from the Schemes of TAG page at tiatracademyofgoa.com, or collect it from the TAG office.
3. Fill Part 1, details of the recommender — name, address, landline and mobile numbers, and a description of the recommender that must be below 100 characters. Sign it.
4. Fill Part 2, details of the nominee; name, stage name, father's name, mother's name, date of birth and age, educational qualification, address for correspondence, landline and mobile numbers, Aadhaar card number with a copy enclosed, and email ID.
5. Tick the nominee's contribution boxes. The form lists actor, singer, musician, director, producer, writer, lights, setting, sound and promoter/organiser, with an "other" field to specify anything else.
6. Attach the details of performances on a separate sheet. A 20-year career will not fit in the printed space, and this sheet is what the selectors read.
7. Attach the four enclosures listed on the form: birth certificate, additional documents or evidence, photographs of performances, and the Aadhaar card.
8. Sign the truth declaration and submit the form to the Tiatr Academy of Goa, AS-1, 2nd Floor, Campal Trade Centre, Campal, Panaji, Goa 403001, or email tiatracademy@gmail.com to confirm the current submission route.

How does TAG select the awardees?

Selection is made on the criteria in rule 2, applied to the recommendations received from individuals and institutions and to responses to the newspaper advertisement. The Executive Board of TAG additionally has the right to nominate deserving artistes from outside the recommended list, so an artiste who was never formally recommended can still be selected. Not more than 5 artistes from the field are conferred the award every year.

What are the common reasons a nomination fails?

• The artiste is under 60 and no health ground has been put forward for relaxation.
• The performance count is short. Thirty tiatrs for performers and technicians, twenty for writers and directors, are hard numbers in rule 2.
• No separate sheet of performances. Without it the selectors have nothing to assess a 20-year career on.
• The artiste has already received a TAG lifetime award in another stream.
• The recommender's description exceeds 100 characters. The form specifies this limit.
• Missing birth certificate or Aadhaar copy. Both are listed enclosures.

Where do I contact TAG about this award?

The Tiatr Academy of Goa is at AS-1, 2nd Floor, Campal Trade Centre, Campal, Panaji, Goa 403001, phone 0832-2230738, fax 0832-2230739, email tiatracademy@gmail.com. Under the Right to Information Act, the Member Secretary of TAG is the Public Information Officer and the President of TAG is the First Appellate Authority. TAG reserves the right under rule 8 to make changes in the rules of this scheme, so check the current PDF on the Schemes of TAG page before preparing a nomination.

Key facts to remember

• Scheme 32 of 41 TAG schemes; the commercial-stage lifetime award.
• Minimum age 60, relaxable on health grounds; minimum 20 years in tiatr.
• At least 30 tiatrs for performers and technicians, 20 for writers and directors.
• Maximum 5 awards a year.
• Presented on 14 December, the birth anniversary of Joao Agostinho Fernandes.
• Shawl, memento, citation and a cash award fixed by TAG.
• Once in a lifetime, across all four TAG lifetime award streams.

How to check your nomination status

TAG does not run an online tracking portal or reference-number system for this award, so a nominator has to follow up directly rather than log in anywhere.

• Call the TAG office. Phone 0832-2230738 and ask whether the recommendation form for scheme 32 (Lifetime Contribution to Tiatr Awards, Commercial) reached the office and whether it is complete. Keep the nominee's name and the date the form was submitted or posted ready, since there is no application ID to quote.
• Visit in person. The office is at AS-1, 2nd Floor, Campal Trade Centre, Campal, Panaji, Goa 403001. A visit lets staff check the physical file and tell you if any enclosure, such as the birth certificate or Aadhaar copy, is missing.
• Email for a written confirmation. Write to tiatracademy@gmail.com stating the nominee's name and the date of submission, and ask for acknowledgement that the form is on record for that year's selection.
• Watch the newspaper for the shortlist or result. Since selection itself is announced through local newspaper advertisements and TAG's own schemes page rather than individual letters to every nominee, the practical way most recommenders learn the outcome is from that public announcement or from the 14 December function itself, not from a status update mid-process.
• Recheck close to 14 December. Because the award function falls on a fixed date each year, following up in the weeks before it is more useful than checking soon after submission, when the file may not yet have been reviewed by the Executive Board.

If a form was submitted for a past cycle and the artiste was not selected, TAG is not obliged to give individual reasons; the Executive Board's selection is discretionary within the rule 2 criteria, and a nominee can be recommended again in a later year if they still meet the age and experience conditions.