Promotion of Tiatr Through Academic Activities (Promotion of Tiatr through Workshops)

What is the Promotion of Tiatr Through Academic Activities scheme?

Promotion of Tiatr Through Academic Activities is scheme number 6 in the list of 41 schemes run by the Tiatr Academy of Goa (TAG), an autonomous body of the Government of Goa under the Department of Art and Culture. TAG's own scheme document carries the title "Promotion of Tiatr through Workshops", while the myScheme national listing uses the older name "Promotion of Tiatr Through Academic Activities"; both refer to the same scheme document and the same prescribed form.

TAG formulated the scheme, in its own words, with the purpose of creating interest in tiatr among the students of educational institutions and among tiatr lovers in villages and cities. The mechanism is straightforward: rule 1 says awareness about tiatr, its song and its music will be created through academic activities like talks, symposia, seminars and workshops. This is the lecture-and-discussion arm of TAG's work, distinct from its production schemes (which fund the staging of tiatrs) and its competition schemes (which award prizes for performance).

Tiatr is the Konkani musical theatre form built in six or seven acts, called podd'dde, with songs called kantaram set between them. Most of what is known about its history, its music and its craft lives with practitioners rather than in books, and this scheme is TAG's route for moving that knowledge into rooms full of students and enthusiasts.

What does TAG actually pay for?

TAG does not hand over a lump-sum grant. It meets the costs directly, which is why the scheme has no published rupee ceiling.

Under rule 6, TAG takes care of the expenditure of the symposium, seminar or workshop that is incurred on:

• Resource persons, their honorarium, fixed by TAG for every session, depending on the distance from the resource person's residence to the venue.
• Refreshments served to the participants, with an important condition: the cost of the refreshment must be verified and approved by TAG before it is finalised.
• Any other miscellaneous expenditure incurred in organising the activity by the collaborating institution or individual.

Under rule 7, TAG additionally provides five items in kind:

1. Backdrop
2. Certificates for the participants
3. Stationery
4. Mementos
5. Two books on tiatr, subject to availability

Under rule 8, TAG documents the symposium, seminar or workshop and bears the cost of that documentation itself. The documentation is what turns a one-day session into something that survives in TAG's archive.

Who can and cannot organise an activity under this scheme?

You can apply if:

• You are an educational institution — a school, higher secondary, college or university department, that wants to run a tiatr workshop for its students.
• You are a cultural body, village association or club that wants to bring a tiatr seminar to your village or town.
• You are an individual who wants to organise an activity in collaboration with TAG. Rule 2 allows the activity to be organised by TAG alone or in collaboration with any other institution or individual.
• You can gather at least 20 and not more than 30 participants.

You are not eligible, or your application will not proceed, if:

• You do not attach a self-attested copy of your Aadhaar card. Rule 10 makes it compulsory for anyone who wants to avail the benefit of this scheme, without exception.
• Your proposed group is below 20 or above 30 participants. Rule 5 fixes both limits.
• You want a cash grant paid to you. This scheme meets costs; it does not transfer money to the organiser.
• You want to finalise your own resource persons without asking TAG. Rule 3 requires prior approval from TAG before resource persons are finalised when the activity is organised by anyone other than TAG.
• You propose a purely theoretical programme. Rule 13 requires theory and practical aspects both.
• TAG's funds for the year are exhausted. Rule 9 makes the scheme first come, first served and subject to availability of funds, so a perfectly eligible application can still wait for the next financial year.

How to apply for a TAG tiatr workshop

1. Open the Schemes of TAG page at tiatracademyofgoa.com and download scheme 6, "Promotion of Tiatr through Workshops". The PDF contains both the rules and the application form.
2. Fill the application form completely. It asks for the name of the applicant, the postal address, contact number, email, Aadhaar card number, the aspects of tiatr on which the workshop is required, the number of participants, and the proposed time and place.
3. Choose your aspects of tiatr carefully. The form lists acting, singing, script and lyrics writing, make-up, stage setting, background music, light effects and history of tiatr as examples. A focused request is easier for TAG to staff with the right resource persons than a request covering everything.
4. Attach a self-attested copy of your Aadhaar card. This is mandatory under rule 10 and is the most common reason a TAG application is sent back.
5. Sign the two declarations at the foot of the form, that you have read and understood the rules of the scheme and will abide by them, and that the information given is true to the best of your knowledge. Date the form.
6. Submit the form to the Tiatr Academy of Goa office at AS-1, 2nd Floor, Campal Trade Centre, Campal, Panaji, Goa 403001. You can also write to tiatracademy@gmail.com to confirm the current submission method before you travel.
7. Apply early in the financial year. Because rule 9 works on first come, first served and on availability of funds, timing matters more in this scheme than in most.
8. Plan the ceremonies. Once approved, invite TAG officials to the opening and closing ceremony as Chief Guest, Guest of Honour or Special Invitee under rule 12, and invite a senior tiatr artist as Guest or Special Guest alongside the President and Vice President under rule 14.

How is the refreshment cost handled?

This is the detail organisers most often get wrong. Rule 6 does not simply say TAG will pay for refreshments, it says that before finalising the refreshment to be served, the cost of the same should be verified and got approved by TAG. An organiser who books a caterer first and produces the bill afterwards is outside the rule. Get the quotation approved in writing, then place the order.

The same logic runs through the resource person honorarium: the amount is fixed by TAG for every session and varies with the distance from the resource person's residence to the venue, so the organiser should not negotiate a fee directly.

What are the common reasons an application is rejected?

• No self-attested Aadhaar copy. Rule 10 is unconditional.
• Participant numbers outside 20 to 30. Both the floor and the ceiling are fixed.
• Resource persons finalised without TAG's prior approval, which breaches rule

• Refreshment costs incurred without prior verification and approval, which puts the reimbursement outside rule 6.
• A theory-only programme, contrary to rule 13.
• Applying late in the year, when funds for the scheme have already been committed to earlier applicants under rule 9.
• Not inviting TAG officials to the opening and closing ceremony, which breaches rules 12 and 14.

TAG also reserves the right, under rule 11, to make any changes in the rules, so download the current PDF from the Schemes of TAG page before you apply rather than relying on an older copy.

Where do I raise a grievance about this scheme?

Contact the Tiatr Academy of Goa directly on 0832-2230738 (fax 0832-2230739) or by email at tiatracademy@gmail.com. The office address is AS-1, 2nd Floor, Campal Trade Centre, Campal, Panaji, Goa 403001.

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, so a written RTI application about a pending or rejected case goes first to the Member Secretary at the Campal Trade Centre address. TAG's citizen's charter is published on its website and its department page is carried on the Directorate of Art and Culture site at artandculture.goa.gov.in.

Key facts to remember

• Promotion of Tiatr Through Academic Activities is scheme 6 of 41 run by the Tiatr Academy of Goa.
• TAG's own title for it is "Promotion of Tiatr through Workshops".
• Activities covered are talks, symposia, seminars and workshops on tiatr, its song and its music.
• Participants must number at least 20 and at most 30.
• TAG pays for resource persons, refreshments and miscellaneous costs, and supplies backdrop, certificates, stationery, mementos and 2 books.
• Refreshment costs must be approved by TAG before they are finalised.
• A self-attested Aadhaar copy is compulsory with every application.
• The scheme runs first come, first served, subject to availability of funds.

How to check your application status

This scheme has no online portal or tracking number, since the whole process runs on a paper form submitted to the Tiatr Academy of Goa (TAG) office. Once you have submitted Form 6, follow up this way:

1. Note your submission details before you leave the office. Ask for an acknowledgement or a diary/inward number on your copy of the form when you hand it in at AS-1, 2nd Floor, Campal Trade Centre, Campal, Panaji. Without this reference, a phone follow-up takes longer because staff have to search by your name and date instead of a number.
2. Call the TAG office directly on 0832-2230738 a few weeks after submission. Since sessions are cleared on a first come, first served basis subject to available funds, an application can sit for a while even when nothing is wrong with it, so a status call is normal rather than a sign of trouble.
3. Email tiatracademy@gmail.com if you cannot get through by phone, quoting the date you submitted the form, the name of the applicant institution or individual, and the proposed dates for the workshop or seminar. Keep this email as your written record of having followed up.
4. Ask two specific questions when you do reach someone: whether your resource persons have been approved (required before you can proceed under rule 3), and whether the refreshment cost you have quoted has been verified and approved (required before you finalise catering under rule 6). These are the two approval points most organisers get stuck waiting on.
5. Visit in person if phone and email do not get a response within a reasonable time, since a small office like TAG's often resolves a pending file faster face to face than over a call.
6. If your event date is approaching and you have heard nothing, say so plainly when you call or write. Because the scheme has no published turnaround time, the only way to know where your file stands is to ask, and asking earlier rather than closer to your planned date gives TAG room to still approve resource persons and refreshments in time.

There is no SMS alert, no reference-number lookup page, and no separate status-check number apart from the TAG office line above, so treat the phone and email contacts as the only channel for tracking a pending application.