Scheme to Provide Financial Assistance in the Form of Grant-In-Aid to Bhajani/ Choir/ Cultural Group/ Institutions for Purchase of Musical Instruments

What is the Goa musical instruments grant-in-aid scheme?

The Scheme to Provide Financial Assistance in the Form of Grant-In-Aid to Bhajani / Choir / Cultural Group / Institutions for Purchase of Musical Instruments is run by the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of Goa, from Sanskruti Bhavan in Patto, Panaji. It gives a small, one-time cash grant to a performing group so that it can buy the instruments it needs.

The scheme has a specific history worth knowing. According to the Directorate's Citizen's Charter, the erstwhile schemes provided for centralised purchase and distribution of musical instruments to selected bhajani, choir, cultural groups and institutions through the department. The amended scheme replaced that with financial assistance in the form of grant-in-aid, so that the group buys musical instruments of their choice.

That change is the whole point of the scheme in its current form. A bhajani mandal that needs a pakhawaj and a harmonium and a parish choir that needs a keyboard have different requirements, and a departmental bulk purchase served neither well.

Objectives, as stated by the Directorate

• To encourage and sustain the bhajani mandals, choir groups and cultural troupes who contribute to a great extent to the preservation of cultural heritage with their cultural and musical performances.
• To give financial support to organisations and institutions for promotion and preservation of age-old culture.
• To promote local talent and local cultural troupes.

How much does the scheme pay?

Under the scheme, eligible cultural groups and institutions are given a lumpsum grant or financial assistance to the maximum extent of Rs 15,000 per group or institution, for the purchase of musical instruments only.

The Directorate adds an important qualification: the Government or Department may restrict the number of groups or institutions in each category according to the availability of funds. Rs 15,000 is a ceiling and the number of grants made in a year depends on the budget, so eligibility does not by itself guarantee a sanction.

Who is eligible for the musical instruments grant?

A group can apply if:

• It is a mandal, group, institution or troupe, registered or unregistered, that fulfils the eligibility conditions.
• It conducts regular musical performances such as bhajans, choir singing or folk performances.
• It consists of at least 10 members.
• It has not received the benefits of this scheme before. The Citizen's Charter records that the scheme is being revalidated keeping in mind that only those institutions, mandals, groups or troupes who have not received the benefits of the scheme are eligible.

The scheme is deliberately inclusive on registration. A village bhajani mandal that has met every week for thirty years without ever registering as a society is as eligible as an incorporated cultural institution, provided it can produce a certificate of existence and functioning from a competent local authority.

A group cannot apply if:

• It has fewer than 10 members. The list of artists with addresses is a mandatory document and must show at least 10 people.
• It has already availed the scheme. This is an express bar.
• It does not conduct regular musical performances. A purely dramatic troupe, a dance-only group with no musical component, or a body formed only to organise an event does not meet the condition.
• It is an individual artist. The scheme funds a group or institution, not a person. An individual Goan artist in need should look instead at the Directorate's Kalakar Kritadnyata Nidhi, which assists aged needy Goan artists aged 50 and above with annual family income up to Rs 2 lakh, including an incentive for self-employment of up to Rs 50,000.
• It is a defaulter of the Directorate of Art and Culture for non-submission of a utilisation certificate or statement of accounts for an earlier grant.

What documents are required?

The Citizen's Charter marks the activity report, the existence certificate, the list of artists, the contact person's ID proof and the bank details as mandatory. The registration certificate is not, precisely because unregistered groups are eligible.

How to apply for the musical instruments grant

1. Confirm the group has not availed the scheme before. The single disqualifier most Goan mandals hit is a grant taken years ago under the earlier centralised-purchase version of the scheme. Check the group's records first.
2. Compile the list of artists. Prepare a list of at least 10 members, male and female, with their addresses. This is the document the Directorate uses to test the minimum-membership condition.
3. Obtain the certificate of existence and functioning. Approach your local MLA, the Taluka Mamlatdar, the Block Development Officer, the Sarpanch of the Panchayat, or any Gazetted Officer, and get a certificate about the functioning of the group and its artists. Allow time for this. It is the step that usually delays an otherwise ready application.
4. Assemble the activity report. Put together evidence of participation in competitions, festivals and other cultural activities, with the participation certificates you hold. A mandal that performs at the village temple every Ekadashi should document that as much as one that competes at Lokotsav.
5. Fill the prescribed application proforma, obtainable from the Directorate of Art and Culture.
6. Submit the complete set to the Directorate of Art and Culture, Sanskruti Bhavan, Patto, Panaji – Goa, enclosing the bank details in the prescribed format or a photocopy of a cheque, and the contact person's ID proof.
7. Follow up with ACO II on 0832-2404623 or at aco3-dac.goa@nic.in, quoting your application reference. On sanction, the grant is credited to the group's bank account.

What the grant can and cannot buy

The grant is for the purchase of musical instruments only. In practice for Goan groups that means pakhawaj, mridang, tabla, harmonium, taal and jhanj for a bhajani mandal; keyboard, guitar and sound-supporting instruments for a choir; ghumot, shamel, kansalem and dholki for a folk troupe.

It does not cover costumes, transport, hall hire, sound systems, honoraria or the cost of staging a programme. Groups needing those should look to the Directorate's other schemes:

• Special Financial Assistance for Organizing Cultural Events, up to Rs 5 lakh or 80% of the expenditure incurred, whichever is less, for a specific cultural event, programme, exhibition, festival, camp or workshop. Available to registered and unregistered groups and to individuals, once in a financial year. Applications must reach the Directorate before 30 days from the date of the event, and funds are released within 60 days of a complete application.
• Grant in Aid to Cultural Organisation (Maintenance / Regular Grants) — grant-in-aid to the extent of 80% of expenditure incurred in the last financial year, subject to a ceiling that ranges from Rs 10,000 for Group 'H' up to Rs 3 lakh for Group 'A'. This is open only to Goan institutions registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 or the Indian Trusts Act, is paid as reimbursement, and requires prior approval of the Director for purchase of equipment, instruments and furniture.

That last scheme is the one a well-established, registered cultural institution should be looking at if Rs 15,000 will not cover its instrument needs, but note that it is a reimbursement of last year's spending, not an advance.

Why applications get rejected or delayed

• Fewer than 10 members on the artists' list.
• Group has already availed the scheme in an earlier year.
• No certificate of existence and functioning from a competent authority.
• No activity report or no participation certificates to support it.
• Bank details not in the prescribed format, or in an individual's name rather than the group's.
• Funds exhausted for the category in that financial year.
• Outstanding utilisation certificate for an earlier grant from the Directorate.

Whom to contact

• Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of Goa Sanskruti Bhavan, Patto, Panaji – Goa Officer for this scheme: ACO II Telephone: 0832-2404623 E-mail: aco3-dac.goa@nic.in Website: artandculture.goa.gov.in

The Directorate also implements a Scheduled Castes Development Scheme and a Scheduled Tribe Development Scheme as special components, under which the major schemes of the department; including this one: are extended to artists, groups and mandals of SC and ST categories. A group applying under that route should say so in the application and enclose caste certificates.

How to check your application status

This scheme has no online tracking portal or application ID system. The application moves entirely on paper through the Directorate of Art and Culture, so status has to be checked directly with the office rather than through a website or SMS.

• Call ACO II before visiting. The Assistant Cultural Officer handling this scheme can be reached on 0832-2404623. Keep the date you submitted the application and the name of the mandal, choir group or institution ready, since there is no application number to quote.
• Write to aco3-dac.goa@nic.in if a phone call is not convenient. Mention the group's registered or informal name, the date and mode of submission, and ask for the current status of the file. Keep a copy of the email as your own record of follow-up.
• Visit Sanskruti Bhavan in person if a call or email does not get a clear answer. Since the file physically sits in the Directorate's office in Patto, Panaji, an in-person query at the counter dealing with grant-in-aid schemes is often the fastest way to learn whether the file is still under scrutiny, has gone for sanction, or has been returned for a missing document.
• Check whether any document was found deficient. A common reason a file shows no movement is that the certificate of existence, the activity report or the bank details did not meet the required format. Ask specifically whether any paper was found incomplete, since the Directorate does not always proactively write back to the applicant.
• Watch the group's bank account once the office confirms the file has been sanctioned. The grant is credited directly to the account submitted with the application, so the credit itself is the final confirmation that the process is complete; there is no separate sanction letter that reaches most applicants before the transfer.
• Ask about the funds position for the year, not just your own file. Because the number of grants sanctioned in a category depends on the budget available that year, a file can be complete and still wait if the year's allocation for bhajani, choir or cultural group grants has already been used up. ACO II can tell you whether the category is still open for fresh sanctions.
• Re-confirm past disbursal before re-applying in a later year. Since a group that has already availed the scheme once is permanently barred from a second grant, it is worth asking the office to confirm on record that no earlier grant exists under the group's name before investing time in a repeat application.