Pension Scheme for Craftsmen

What is the Pension Scheme for Craftsmen?

Pension Scheme for Craftsmen is an initiative of the Directorate of Industries (Department of MSME), Government of Uttarakhand intended to give financial support and social security to the state's traditional artisans in old age. The scheme is delivered through the same field structure that handles artisan registration and craft awards. The Uttarakhand Handloom and Handicraft Development Council and the District Industries Centre in each district.

The need is easy to state. A hill artisan working in ringal, copper, wood or wool earns from piece work, not from an employer. There is no provident fund, no gratuity and no employer contribution behind that work. When the hands go, the income goes with them the same week. A craftsman's pension is the state's answer to that: a monthly payment that keeps a master artisan out of destitution once they can no longer work at the craft.

The pension was announced publicly alongside the state's craft awards. At the first Uttarakhand Rajya Shilp Ratna Puraskar ceremony on 27 January 2016, when 23 artisans were honoured with Rs 1 lakh, a shawl and a citation each, the Chief Minister also announced provisions for craftsperson pensions and honorariums for Master Craftswomen as part of the same package of measures for the craft sector.

Who is eligible for the craftsmen's pension?

You can be considered if:

• You are a permanent resident of Uttarakhand.
• You are a registered artisan or weaver, registered with the Directorate of Industries, Uttarakhand, or holding a Pehchan card from the Development Commissioner (Handicrafts), Government of India.
• You have worked at a traditional craft as your livelihood, and your maintenance has depended on it.
• You have reached the qualifying age for the scheme, which for old-age artisan pensions in India is generally 60 years and above.

You cannot apply: or are not eligible: if:

• You are not a registered artisan. Registration is the gate; nothing else substitutes for it.
• You are not a permanent resident of Uttarakhand.
• You are a trader, dealer or shopkeeper in handicrafts rather than a maker.
• You are below the qualifying age.
• You are already drawing another government pension for yourself, where the notification bars it.

How to apply for the Pension Scheme for Craftsmen

1. Confirm your artisan registration. If you are not registered with the Directorate of Industries, Uttarakhand, or do not hold a Pehchan card, complete that first at your District Industries Centre. Nothing else can proceed until this exists.
2. Visit your District Industries Centre and ask the General Manager's office for the craftsmen's pension application form and the current sanctioned rate and conditions.
3. Assemble the file; registration proof, age proof, domicile certificate, Aadhaar, bank passbook copy, photographs, and an income certificate if the notification asks for one.
4. Submit the application at the District Industries Centre and collect a dated receipt with the file number on it.
5. Follow the file at the DIC through verification and sanction. The pension, once sanctioned, is credited to your own bank account, so make sure the account is active and Aadhaar-seeded.

What could not be verified, and what to do about it

This is a small state scheme and the honest position is that the Government of Uttarakhand has not published a standing scheme document, a monthly rate, an income ceiling or an exact minimum age for it on its official websites. The Directorate of Industries site and the Uttarakhand Handloom and Handicraft Development Council site carry the department's contact details and product and council information, but link out to the central handicrafts and handlooms portals rather than hosting state artisan-welfare scheme papers.

What that means in practice:

• Do not accept a rupee figure from an agent, a WhatsApp forward or an aggregator site. Several such sites carry figures borrowed from other states' artisan pensions, which do not apply here.
• Ask the General Manager of your District Industries Centre in writing for the current government order, the sanctioned monthly rate and the eligibility conditions. A written request also creates a record you can follow up on.
• Compare the alternatives before you commit, because you will usually have to choose one pension.

The alternatives worth comparing

Uttarakhand Old Age Pension Scheme — run by the Social Welfare Department, this pays Rs 1,500 per month to people aged 60 years and above where the family's monthly income does not exceed Rs 4,000 or the applicant is Below Poverty Line. It is applied for through the Social Welfare Department's portal and the district Social Welfare Office. For most elderly artisans this is the larger, better-documented and more reliably paid route, and the state has moved towards starting it automatically on completion of 60 years.

Handicrafts Artisans' Comprehensive Welfare Scheme; run by the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India under the National Handicrafts Development Programme. The Ministry invites applications each year for its artisan welfare and pension components alongside the Shilp Guru and National Awards, through the Development Commissioner (Handicrafts). A Pehchan card is the entry document.

Uttarakhand Rajya Shilp Ratna Puraskar, the state craft award administered by the same Directorate of Industries. In several states, holding a state or national craft award is itself a qualifying condition for an enhanced artisan pension, so an awarded artisan should ask the DIC whether the award changes their pension entitlement.

Help and contact

• Directorate of Industries, Uttarakhand; toll free 7618544555, phone 0135-2728227, at DDPM Hyundai, Fourth Floor, Haridwar Bypass Road, Ajabpur Khurd, Dehradun; email mpr@doiuk.org.
• Your District Industries Centre. The office that registers artisans, holds the pension file and can confirm the current rate.
• Uttarakhand Handloom and Handicraft Development Council at uhhdc.uk.gov.in, phone 0135-2728227.
• Social Welfare Department, Uttarakhand at socialwelfare.uk.gov.in for the Old Age Pension Scheme.

No fee is payable to any agent for a pension application. Registration at the District Industries Centre and the pension application itself are departmental processes handled by the artisan directly.