Mukhyamantri Kalakar Sahayata Yojana, Odisha

What is Mukhyamantri Kalakar Sahayata Yojana?

Mukhyamantri Kalakar Sahayata Yojana (MKSY) is a monthly financial assistance scheme of the Odia Language, Literature & Culture Department, Government of Odisha, for aged artists living in poverty who have spent their lives enriching, displaying and preserving the art and culture of Odisha.

The scheme was announced in 2018 and given legal form by Resolution No. 1516-UC-II/2018/OLLC dated 25 May 2018, published in the Odisha Gazette Extraordinary No. 810 of 26 May 2018, which enacted the Mukhyamantri Kalakar Sahayata Yojana Rules, 2018.

The department's stated reasoning is that Odisha is rich in folk and classical dance, song, theatre, fine art and literature, and that the state had already been paying a pension to indigent artists in distress despite lifelong dedication. MKSY superseded that older Indigent Artist Pension and brought all such artists into a single, rule-bound scheme.

According to the 2018 Rules, the scheme is built around four stipulations: age, income, the artist's contribution as an artist, and the physical and financial condition of the artist's family.

How much does Mukhyamantri Kalakar Sahayata Yojana pay?

The financial assistance is Rs 1,200 per month per artist, as set by Rule 5, "or as may be determined by the Government from time to time".

The money reaches the artist through a defined route. Government releases funds to the districts against the target assigned, and the Collector disburses the amount to the selected artists. The first payment is made in cash to the beneficiary on proper identification by the disbursing authority; thereafter the assistance is remitted each month to the beneficiary's savings bank account opened in a nationalised bank.

At the district level the Collector maintains a database or e-register recording each beneficiary's name, address, account number, phone number and Aadhaar or Voter ID, block-wise and ULB-wise, with a specific mention of the artist's field of contribution. A quarterly statement of expenditure goes from the Collector to the Director, Odia Bhasa, Sahitya O Sanskruti Department.

Who is eligible for Mukhyamantri Kalakar Sahayata Yojana?

You can apply if:

• You are an artist aged 50 years or above (male) or 40 years or above (female).
• Your annual income does not exceed Rs 50,000 if you belong to a rural area, or Rs 60,000 if you belong to an urban area.
• You can produce an annual income certificate issued by the competent authority, which must be enclosed with the application.
• You can establish your identity as a genuine artist through records or certificates. Registration with the Block Kala Sanskruti Sangha (BKSS) or the Urban KSS in your district is the standard evidence, and the district target is fixed partly on the art forms and artists registered there.

You are not eligible if:

• You are below the age bar; under 50 for men, under 40 for women.
• Your annual income exceeds the Rs 50,000 rural or Rs 60,000 urban ceiling.
• You already receive similar benefits under any other government scheme. Rule 4(iii) bars double benefit outright.
• You cannot substantiate your claim to be an artist. The Rules explicitly direct that records and certificates furnished by applicant artists must be verified properly, and allow the Collector to conduct an audition test wherever necessary to debar fake artists from selection.

How to apply for Mukhyamantri Kalakar Sahayata Yojana

1. Wait for the advertisement. After government approves the number of beneficiaries, the department publishes an advertisement in print media, electronic media and on its website www.odishaculture.gov.in, inviting applications from eligible artists within a period of 2 months from publication.
2. Obtain the prescribed application form and fill it with your name, age, date of birth, address, art form and field of contribution, family details, income details, and bank account details.
3. Attach the mandatory enclosures — the annual income certificate from the competent authority, age proof, evidence of your work as an artist, Aadhaar or Voter ID, bank account details and a photograph.
4. Submit to the Collector & District Magistrate of your district. The Rules allow submission in person, through post, or by e-mail, so long as the application reaches the Collector by the stipulated date.
5. Attend the verification or audition if the district calls you. The District Culture Officer places the applications before the Selection Committee.
6. Wait for individual communication. Approval of artists is communicated individually by the District Level Selection Committee, and the approved list is forwarded to the Director for release of assistance.

Who selects the artists?

Each district has a Selection Committee with the Collector & District Magistrate as Chairman:

The committee scrutinises every application for genuineness against the eligibility criteria, finalises the selection, and the Collector approves it. The department's 2021 instructions added that seniority by age should be taken into account during selection, that certificates should be verified properly, and that the list of applicant artists should be prepared category-wise before selection and reported to the department, ideally within three months of the last date for receipt of applications.

The number of artists to be selected in a district is communicated by government. Under a corrigendum dated 30 August 2018 (Gazette No. 1610), the district target is decided on the basis of the population of that district as per the latest Census Report. Where a district's target is not filled in the first year, fresh advertisements may be issued in the following year.

How many artists are covered?

The Chief Minister announced in 2018 that monthly financial assistance would be provided to about 50,000 artists of different categories across the state, and the Rules were enacted to deliver that. Department correspondence of 23 August 2021 recorded that, as on 1 August 2021, 33,841 artists were actually receiving assistance against a target of 50,000, leaving 16,159 vacancies across the 30 districts and the Directorate. A central advertisement was floated with a last date of 30 October 2021 to fill them, with additional targets allotted to 13 districts.

When can the assistance be cancelled?

Rule 8 lists five grounds on which financial assistance granted to an artist is cancelled:

1. On the death of the beneficiary.
2. On government's satisfaction that the information furnished to the District Level Selection Committee was erroneous, false or inconclusive.
3. On determination that the beneficiary has indulged in activities prejudicial to public interest or public order.
4. On the beneficiary ceasing to satisfy the income criterion in Rule 4(ii).
5. On non-submission of the Life Certificate within the prescribed date each year.

The Life Certificate is the one recurring obligation. Every year in the month of April, the beneficiary must furnish it in the prescribed form, signed by a Member of Parliament, a Member of the Legislative Assembly, any gazetted government officer, a Chairman of a ULB, or the Chairman of a Panchayat Samiti.

Why applications get rejected, and how to fix them

• Applying outside the advertised window. MKSY is not a rolling scheme. Applications are received only against an advertisement, within the two-month window it specifies.
• No income certificate. The Rules require the certificate from a competent authority to be enclosed with the application, not produced later.
• Age below the bar, or age proof that does not match the claim.
• Weak proof of being an artist. Get registered with the BKSS or Urban KSS and keep programme records, association letters and any performance certificates.
• Already drawing a similar benefit under another government scheme, which disqualifies outright.
• District target already full. Selection is against a district-wise target fixed on population, so a genuine artist may have to reapply in a later round.

Help and grievance redressal

• Odia Language, Literature & Culture Department, Directorate Wing, Sanskruti Bhawan, Museum Campus, Bhubaneswar – 751014
• E-mail: culsecy@gmail.com (department contact page; no public telephone helpline is published for the scheme)
• Website: culture.odisha.gov.in
• District route: the District Culture Officer, who is Member-Convener of the Selection Committee, and the Collector & District Magistrate's office

No fee is charged for applying. Records and documents under the scheme are open to audit by the competent authorities, and government retains the power under Rule 12 to relax any provision of the Rules in the interest of beneficiaries.