Scheme to Provide Financial Assistance to the Publishers for Publishing Books of Goan Authors

What is the Goa publishers assistance scheme?

Scheme to Provide Financial Assistance to the Publishers for Publishing Books of Goan Authors is a scheme of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of Goa. Its stated objectives are to support Goan publishers by giving them the opportunity and encouragement to publish books, and to give financial support to Goan publishers for publishing books.

Goan publishing is a small trade. Konkani, Marathi and English titles by Goan authors typically run in print orders of a few hundred copies, and the economics of such a print run rarely work on retail sales alone. The scheme's answer is to make the Government a buyer: the Directorate of Art and Culture purchases copies of a qualifying book, which recovers a meaningful part of the publisher's printing cost and puts the book into circulation through government and institutional libraries.

That purchase mechanism is visible in the scheme's own paperwork. The author's no-objection certificate is worded as an NOC to sell my above titled books to the Art & Culture Department, Panaji-Goa under the scheme, which is what the "financial assistance" concretely consists of.

How much assistance is given?

The scheme's application form does not print a ceiling. Secondary reporting on the scheme states the total amount should not exceed Rs 50,000 per book purchase.

Because that figure comes from secondary sources rather than from the Directorate's own form, treat it as indicative and confirm the current ceiling with the Directorate of Art and Culture before you build a print run around it.

What the scheme does state firmly is the publisher's side of the bargain: the publisher shall give a minimum 15% discount on the price of the book.

Who is eligible for the publishers assistance?

You can apply if:

• You are a Goan publisher, and the writer of the book is Goan.
• You have substantial experience in publication.
• You have published a minimum of 500 copies of the book for which assistance is sought.
• The book was published by the author himself, or by another publishing unit provided the author has issued an NOC to the publisher.
• The book contains 100% originality.
• The book was published in the qualifying calendar year, for the 2026-27 round, between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2025.
• You will give a minimum 15% discount on the price of the book.

For the purposes of this scheme, a person who has lived in Goa for a minimum of 10 years of their creative lifespan is treated as Goan. Both the author and the publisher sign undertakings to that effect in the prescribed format. This is a generously drawn test. It turns on creative residence rather than on birth.

You cannot apply if:

• The book is an anthology or a compilation, the scheme states that no anthology or compilation shall be considered.
• The book is a work of translation, because the book must contain 100% originality.
• The book is a second edition — no grants are given for printing of a second edition.
• The book was published by a grant-in-aid institution, or funded by an academy, a government autonomous body or another government department.
• Fewer than 500 copies were printed.
• The printing and paper quality is not good and standard, which the scheme makes an express condition.
• The book was published outside the qualifying calendar year. Books published after December 2025 are considered in the following year's round, not the current one.

What documents must accompany the form?

1. Three copies of the book.
2. NOC of the writer in the enclosed format.
3. Printing bill for a minimum of 500 copies.
4. Address proof of the writer and the publisher: residence certificate, photocopy of the election card, Aadhaar card or ration card.
5. Photocopy of a cheque, or of the first page of the passbook, showing name, MICR and IFSC codes, duly linked with the Aadhaar number.
6. Undertaking of the writer and of the publisher as 10-year residents, in the enclosed format.
7. Death certificate and authority letter of the copyright holder, where the author has died.
8. Authority letter of the proprietor, where the applicant is a publishing unit.
9. Photocopy of the PAN card of the publisher.

The application form itself asks for the publisher's name and full address, the name and address of the publishing unit, nationality, category, contact numbers, taluka and constituency, Aadhaar number and PAN; and, for the publication, the name of the book or script, the language, the year and month of publication, the number of printed copies, the number of pages and the price. It also asks for details of prior publications and of any grant or assistance received from Government or any other source for the same publication.

How to apply for the Goa publishers assistance scheme

1. Check the calendar year first. Only books published in the qualifying calendar year are considered. A book published in January of the current year waits for next year's round.
2. Obtain the prescribed application form from the Directorate of Art and Culture, Panaji, against the Rs 10 form charge, and collect the receipt. The form is issued with an online form number.
3. Get the author's NOC in the enclosed format, permitting the publisher to sell the book to the Art and Culture Department under the scheme.
4. Have both the author and the publisher sign the 10-year residence undertakings in the enclosed formats.
5. Complete the form, entering the book's language, month and year of publication, number of printed copies, number of pages and price, along with the details of prior publications and of any other grant received for the same book.
6. Attach the documents: three copies of the book, the printing bill for at least 500 copies, address proofs of writer and publisher, the bank cheque or passbook copy, the PAN card copy, and the death certificate and copyright authority letter or proprietor's authority letter where applicable.
7. Submit the file to the Director, Directorate of Art and Culture, Panaji-Goa, and keep the applicant's copy of the Rs 10 receipt.

When is the deadline?

The scheme runs in annual rounds tied to the financial year, considering books published in the previous calendar year. Reporting on the 2026-27 round gives an application deadline of 30 June 2026.

Confirm the current round's closing date with the Directorate, because the date moves with the round and is announced with the year's form rather than fixed by the scheme text.

Why do applications get rejected?

• Book is an anthology, compilation or translation, none of which qualify.
• Second edition, for which no grant is given.
• Fewer than 500 copies printed, or a printing bill that does not evidence the 500-copy minimum.
• Book funded by an academy, a grant-in-aid institution or another government department, which is an express exclusion. The scheme also asks you to disclose any grant received for the same publication, so a concealed grant is worse than a disclosed one.
• Author's NOC missing, where the publisher is not the author.
• Residence undertakings not furnished by both the author and the publisher.
• Book published outside the qualifying calendar year.
• Printing and paper quality below standard, which the scheme makes a condition.
• Bank details not linked to Aadhaar, or MICR and IFSC not visible on the document submitted.

Where do I complain?

Queries and grievances go to the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of Goa, Panaji, on 0832-2404600 and at dir-dac.goa@nic.in. The Government of Goa's public grievance registration route at goaonline.gov.in is the escalation path.

Practical points

• Print 500 or more, and keep the printing bill. The 500-copy minimum is not negotiable and the bill is the only accepted proof.
• Disclose other grants. The form asks directly about assistance received from Government or any other source for the publication, and a book funded by an academy is excluded outright.
• Get the NOC signed while the author is available. Where an author has died, the file needs the death certificate and an authority letter from the copyright holder. A materially harder document set.
• Plan a year ahead. A book published in, say, March of one year is judged in the following financial year's round. Publishers who time a release for the end of a calendar year effectively wait longer for assistance.
• The Goa Konkani Akademi runs its own publication schemes offering financial assistance including support for first books and for translations of literature relating to Goan culture. Where this scheme excludes translations, that route may be the relevant one, but note that a book funded by an academy is then outside this scheme.

How to check your application status

This is an offline, paper-file scheme, not a portal-based one, so there is no online dashboard or tracking ID system to log into. Once you submit the file to the Director, Directorate of Art and Culture, Panaji-Goa, the file moves through the Directorate's own internal processing rather than a public tracker. Here is how to actually follow it up.

1. Keep the Rs 10 form receipt safe. It carries the online form number that was issued when you bought the application form, and this number is what Directorate staff use to locate your file when you call or visit, so quote it every time you follow up.
2. Call the Directorate of Art and Culture on 0832-2404600 to ask whether your file has been received, whether it is complete, and what stage it is at (scrutiny, verification of the book copies and documents, or the purchase and payment stage).
3. Visit the Directorate's office in Panaji in person if a phone follow-up does not get a clear answer. Carry the receipt and be ready to explain the book title, the publisher's name and the year of publication so the desk can pull the file.
4. Watch for a request to make good any missing document. Because the scheme runs on a fixed annual cycle tied to the calendar year of publication, a file held up over a missing NOC, undertaking or bank proof needs a fast response, since a file that stays incomplete past the round's cutoff effectively slips to the next year.
5. Expect payment, not a formal approval letter, as the practical sign of sanction. Since the "assistance" here is a purchase of copies by the Department, the clearest confirmation that your application has succeeded is the Department's payment for the copies, made against the bank details (cheque or passbook copy linked to Aadhaar) you submitted with the form.
6. Check the official scheme page at artandculture.goa.gov.in for any year-specific notice about the round's processing timeline or a revised cutoff, since the Directorate sometimes announces these details afresh with each year's form rather than keeping them fixed on the scheme text.

If you have moved address or changed your bank account after submitting the file, inform the Directorate in writing (or in person) rather than only by phone, since a payment sent to a stale bank account is one of the more common causes of delay once a file has otherwise cleared.