Assistance for Purchase of Traditional Musical Instruments and Costumes for Scheduled Caste/Tribe Individuals

What is the traditional musical instruments and costumes assistance scheme?

Assistance for Purchase of Traditional Musical Instruments and Costumes for Scheduled Caste/Tribe Individuals is a welfare scheme of the Department of Culture and Endowments, Government of Uttarakhand, delivered through the Directorate of Culture. The scheme supports Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe individuals whose livelihood depends on traditional arts by giving them the instruments and costumes their work requires.

According to the state's departmental scheme rules, persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes whose source of income is their traditional art, and who do not already possess musical instruments or costumes, are provided with traditional instruments and costumes free of cost to help them sustain their livelihood. The instruments named in the rules include the Dhol, Damaun, Masakbeen, Ransingha, trumpet and Nagada, along with items such as a shield and sword used in traditional performance.

That list is not incidental. The dhol-damaun pair is the backbone of Garhwali and Kumaoni ritual and wedding music; the masakbeen is the hill bagpipe; the ransingha is the curved brass horn sounded at temple and procession occasions. These are working tools, and they are expensive relative to what a hill folk artist earns. The scheme's design follows from that: it is an in-kind benefit, given once in a lifetime, to artists at the very bottom of the income scale.

Key features

• Run by the Department of Culture and Endowments through the Directorate of Culture.
• Benefit is in kind: instruments and costumes: not a cash transfer.
• Provided only once in a lifetime to a beneficiary.
• One set per artist in a family.
• Selection by a committee chaired by the Secretary of Culture at Directorate level.

Who is eligible for this scheme?

You can apply if:

• You are a resident of Uttarakhand, evidenced by a permanent residence certificate.
• You are a folk artist, your livelihood comes from traditional art.
• You belong to the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe community.
• Your monthly income does not exceed Rs 2,000, certified by the Tehsildar.
• You do not already possess the musical instruments or costumes you are asking for.
• No other artist in your family has already been given a set under this scheme.

You cannot apply / are not eligible if:

• You belong to a general, OBC or other category outside the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The scheme is category-specific by design.
• Your monthly income is above Rs 2,000. This is a hard ceiling, and it is the reason many applications from part-time performers with other earnings do not succeed.
• You are not a resident of Uttarakhand.
• You already own the instruments or costumes. The rules provide for artists who do not possess them.
• You have already received a set under this scheme. The benefit is once-in-a-lifetime, so a replacement claim after loss or damage is not admitted.
• Another artist in your family has already been given a set, only one set is provided per artist in a family.
• You have received a grant under another scheme and cannot swear the required affidavit to the contrary.
• Traditional art is not your source of livelihood, an enthusiast or hobby performer does not meet the description of a folk artist whose income comes from the art.

What documents are required?

Two of these take the longest to obtain and should be started first: the Tehsildar's income certificate, which requires a tehsil visit and verification, and the affidavit, which must be sworn before a notary or competent authority.

How to apply for the musical instruments and costumes scheme

1. Watch for the Directorate of Culture's advertisement. The Directorate publishes an advertisement inviting applications for providing traditional musical instruments and costumes to eligible SC/ST individuals. This advertisement is the trigger — there is no standing open application window.
2. Collect the eight documents listed above, starting with the Tehsildar's certificate of monthly income of Rs 2,000 and the artist or instrument certificate, since these take the longest.
3. Get the affidavit sworn, stating that you have not received any grant under other schemes.
4. Submit the complete set to the Director, Directorate of Culture, at the address given in the advertisement, on or before the last date it specifies. Keep a photocopy of everything you send and get a dated acknowledgement.
5. Wait for the selection committee. Eligible beneficiaries are selected by a committee constituted at Directorate level under the chairmanship of the Secretary of Culture.
6. Collect the instruments from the Directorate once the selection is announced. Beneficiaries collect the instruments and costumes from the Directorate itself rather than receiving them at a block or district office.

How do I check my application status?

This scheme has no online status tracker and no DBT payment cycle, because the benefit is given in kind. Follow-up runs through the Directorate of Culture office where you submitted, quoting the date of submission and the acknowledgement you were given. Since selection is centralised in a single committee chaired by the Secretary of Culture, the Directorate is also the only office that can tell you the outcome, a district or tehsil office will not have the file. Selected beneficiaries are informed and asked to come to the Directorate to take delivery.

Why applications get rejected

• Income certificate above Rs 2,000 a month, or an income certificate issued by an authority other than the Tehsildar.
• Missing affidavit about not having received a grant under another scheme.
• Caste certificate not attached or issued in a form the Directorate does not accept.
• Already possessing instruments, which places the applicant outside the benefit as written.
• A second claim from the same family, since only one set per artist in a family is provided.
• A repeat claim by someone who already received a set, because the benefit is once in a lifetime.
• Incomplete bank details. The account number without the IFSC code, or a mismatch with the Aadhaar name.

The fix in almost every case is the same: assemble the full eight-document set before submitting, rather than sending a partial application and hoping to add papers later. The Directorate works from a single advertisement cycle, so a deficient file usually waits for the next call rather than being completed mid-cycle.

Who runs the scheme and where do I raise a grievance?

The Department of Culture and Endowments, Government of Uttarakhand owns this scheme, and the Directorate of Culture implements it. The Director, Directorate of Culture receives the applications, and the Secretary of Culture chairs the selection committee. A grievance about a rejected application, a delayed selection or a delivery that has not been made should therefore be addressed to the Director in writing, and escalated to the Secretary of Culture if it is not resolved.

Note on scope: this is a small, in-kind, once-in-a-lifetime scheme with a very tight income ceiling, and there is limited published citizen-facing material about it. The facts above. The Rs 2,000 monthly income limit, the Tehsildar certificate, the named instruments, the once-in-a-lifetime and one-set-per-family rules, the eight documents and the Secretary-chaired selection committee, are what the state's own scheme rules record. Applicants should treat the Directorate's current advertisement as the authoritative source for the last date and the submission address, and should not pay any agent to "get the name added", since selection is by committee on the documents alone.