The State Government on Monday relaxed the age limit for artists to avail pension benefits with an aim to cover more persons under the welfare scheme. Making the announcement, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said that from now onwards, the age limit for male artists to get pension would be 50 year instead of 60 and that for woman artists would be 40 year.
Besides, the Government also decided to decentralise selection of artists and payment of pension to them at the district level. “The decision to reduce the age limit was taken to cover 50,000 artists under the pension scheme,” said the CM.
Tourism and Culture Minister Ashok Chandra Panda informed that presently, nearly 4,000 artists are getting pension of Rs 1,200 per month; and with the new initiative, 50,000 artistes would be covered in the State.