Two months later, no guidelines yet on benefits for Daiva Nartakas

MANGALURU: After Kannada blockbuster ‘Kantara’ popularised ‘Daivaradhane’ across the country, the state government in October announcing a monthly honorarium to ‘Daiva Nartakas’ aged above 60, in recognition of their contribution. It’s been over two months now, but the guidelines related to this are yet to be out. Kannada and Culture Department officials say that gathering of beneficiaries’ details has become difficult, as no proper data is available.

At present, Daiva Nartakas are included in the folk artistes list, but there was no separate survey on them. A Daiva Nartaka said that the government needs to simplify the process of applying for the same, due to which only two persons from Dakshina Kannada have applied so far. Former president of Tulu Sahitya Academy and Daivaradhane exponent, Dayananda G Kathalsar, told TNIE that there are only around 1,000 people in the 60-year age group, who are into Daivaradhane on the coast, and the age limit should be reduced to at least 55, if the honorarium should benefit the needy.

“Already, many artistes are availing old-age pension (Sandhya Suraksha) and they cannot apply for this new monthly honorarium. If they have to avail it, they should cancel their existing pension (Rs 1,000). But this process of cancelling the old pension and applying for the new scheme is complicated.

The government has also made it clear that it lacks the sufficient budget to provide monthly honorarium to all applicants. Most of the people are illiterate and poor, and applying online for the scheme is not easy. Hence, the process of applying for the monthly honorarium should be made at the Panchayat or PDO level. They have brought the issue to the notice of Kannada and Culture Minister V Sunil Kumar, who has assured to resolve it,” he said. Meanwhile, an official said there is specific data available on Daiva Nartakas, and they are still awaiting guidelines from the government.