Financial Assistance For Allied Cultural Activities

The scheme “Financial Assistance for Allied Cultural Activities” was launched by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. This scheme is a sub-component of the scheme component "Financial Assistance for Building Grants Including Studio Theatres" under “Scheme of Financial Assistance for Creation of Cultural Infrastructure”. The objective of this scheme sub-component is to provide financial assistance for the creation of assets for enhancing the audio-visual spectacle for allied cultural activities to give first-hand experience of live performances on a regular basis and during festivals in open/closed areas/spaces where large numbers of tourists/visitors come regularly and during major events/festivals the number of visitors swells to lakhs.

Sanction and Release of Grant:

1. On approval of the project proposal, the Ministry will communicate the decision to the organization, indicating the approved total cost of the project, the quantum of assistance sanctioned the quantum of matching share of the organization, and other terms and conditions for release of the sanctioned amount of assistance.
2. The sanction letter issued by the Ministry for the release of the grant should clearly specify the equipment for which the grant has been sanctioned. The sanction should also specify the purchase of the same make/brand of equipment as contained in the original proposal and as approved by the Competent Authority.
3. The sanctioned amount of assistance will be released in two installments in the following manner:
   (1) First Installment: The first installment equal to 60% of the sanctioned assistance will be released upon approval of the project proposal/sanction by the Ministry without any further correspondence with the grantee organization.
   (2) Second and final Installment: The second installment equal to 40% of the sanctioned grant will be released after:
   (i) The grantee organization has submitted the following documents:
   (a) Physical and financial progress report on the equipment project from a Chartered Accountant, giving details of equipment purchased, along with a self-attested copy of the invoice bill and coloured photographs.
   (b) A certificate from Chartered Accountant to the effect that: Some/All equipment as listed hereunder have been purchased out of the cultural equipment approved under the instant project; Remaining equipment shall be procured after receiving the next installment of the grant; and indicating the Valuation of the cost of the equipment purchased and the further amount required to complete the project.
   (c) The audited statement of accounts of the project, duly signed by a Chartered Accountant.
   (d) A Utilization Certificate in GFR12-A/GFR12-C from Chartered Accountant, certifying that the first installment of assistance has been fully utilized for the project.
   (e) A certificate from a Chartered Accountant certifying that the organization has spent 60% of its matching share.
   (ii) The project has been got physically inspected by officials of the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM)/National Science Centre(NSC)/Ministry of Culture and found an affirmative report for the release of further installments of the grant.
   Note:
   (i) If the final requirement of funds arrived at, falls short of the approved project cost or the amount of matching share spent by the organization is less than 60% of the approved project cost, the amount of the last installment of the grant will be reduced correspondingly.
   (ii) The physical inspection report containing before and after photographs of the projects will be uploaded on the social media sites of the Ministry for public feedback.
4. On the recommendations of the Expert Committee, minutes of the meeting would be approved at the level of the Hon’ble Culture Minister (HCM).

Conditions of Grant:

1. Separate accounts shall be maintained by the grantee organization in respect of the grants released by the Government of India.
2. The accounts and the site of the project shall be open for inspection by the representatives of the Ministry of Culture at any time for verification.
3. All equipment projects must be completed within a period of one year from the date of release of the 1st installment. If the project is not completed within a period of one year from the date of release of the 1st installment [this excludes the time taken in physical inspection after receiving complete requisite documents from the grantee organization], no further grant shall be released to the organization and the claim will become time-barred.
4. The accounts of the organization will be open to audit at any time by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India or his nominees at his discretion.
5. Within twelve months of the closure of the financial year of the release of the grant or any installment thereof, the grantee should submit to the Government of India a Statement of Accounts audited and certified by a Chartered Accountant setting out the expenditure incurred on the approved project and a Utilization Certificate indicating the utilization of the Government of India grant in the preceding year. If the utilization certificate is not submitted within the said prescribed period, the grantee may be asked to refund immediately the whole amount of the grant received together with interest thereon at the prevailing borrowing rate of the Government of India, failing which the organization may be blacklisted from any future grant/financial support from the Government of India.
6. The grantee shall execute a bond in a prescribed format with two sureties (mentioning therein their complete postal addresses and signature), in favour of the President of India, providing therein that (i) he/she will abide by the conditions of the grant-in-aid by the target dates; and (ii) not to divert the Grants or entrust the execution of the Scheme or work concerned to another institution (s) or Organization(s), and (iii) abide by any other conditions specified in the agreement governing the Grants-in-aid. In the event of his/her failing to comply with the conditions of the grant or committing a breach of the conditions of the Bond, the grantee and the signatories/sureties to the Bond shall be jointly and severally liable to refund to the President of India, the whole or a partial amount of the Grant with interest at ten percent per annum thereon or the sum specified under the Bond.
7. Execution of Bond will not apply to Quasi- Government Institutions, Central Autonomous Organizations, and Institutions whose budget is approved by the Government.
8. The first lien on the assets acquired with Central assistance will vest in the President of India and the equipment shall not be leased or mortgaged to other parties without the prior approval of the Government of India.
9. Assets acquired wholly or substantially out of Government Grants, except those declared as obsolete and unserviceable or condemned in accordance with the procedure laid down in the General Financial Rules, shall not be disposed of without obtaining the prior approval of the authority sanctioned by the Grants-aid.
10. If at any stage the Government is not satisfied with the proper utilization of the Government grant, or of the facilities created out of it, the Government may ask for the refund of the entire amount of the grant together with interest thereon at the prevailing lending rates of the Government of India.
11. The grantee organization will be solely responsible for any violation of the laws governing equipment as may be applicable in the local area.
12. The grantee organizations shall promote/propagate the message of cleaning, conserving, and rejuvenating of River Ganga through audio-visual means among visitors who will come to watch the cultural spectacle. They shall also spread the message of other social sector programmes of the Government of India viz. ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’; ‘Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao’ etc.
13. NCSM will provide an e-platform for Live Streaming of the audio-visual spectacle for which financial assistance will be provided under the scheme.
14. Such other conditions may be imposed by the Government of India from time to time.
15. For closure of the case, the applicant should submit the following documents within 6 months of the closure of the financial year in which the final installment is released:
    a) Self-attested copy of invoice bills showing the cost of each item with applicable taxes paid thereon.
    b) Project completion report from Chartered Accountant.
    c) Certificate from the Chartered Accountant that the organization has spent the full amount of its matching share.

1. Maximum assistance under the scheme component, including applicable duties & taxes and also Operation & Maintenance (O&M) costing for five years, will be as under:
   (i) Audio: ₹100 Lakh; (ii) Audio+Video: ₹150 Lakh
2. All grants under the scheme will be of a non-recurring nature. Recurring expenditures, if any, will be the responsibility of the grantee organization.
3. Assistance under this component to an organization will be restricted to a maximum of 90% (including taxes and duties) of the approved estimated project cost along with five years of O&M costs, within the prescribed monetary ceiling. The balance of the approved estimated project cost is to be incurred by the organization as its ‘matching share’.
   Note: While indicating the cost estimate of the equipment, the applicant organization will have to separately specify the duties & taxes and O&M costs for five years.

Eligible Projects:
Grants will be given to projects for procurement of audio-video equipment, which will include: Microphone, Transmitter, Power conditioner, Audio Mixer, Live Encoder, Router, Streaming Transceiver, Broadcast quality video cameras, Hyper Cardioid Microphones, Digital Mixer, Audio Delay Device, Amplifiers, Line Array Speakers, Network Switch, LED Display Controller, Audio De-Embedder, etc.
Eligible Organisations:

1. All not-for-profit organizations who are engaged for at least for past three years in presenting the spectacle for allied cultural activities to give first-hand experience of live performances on a regular basis and during festivals in open/closed areas/spaces where large numbers of tourists/visitors come regularly and during major events/festivals the number of visitors swells to lakhs and shall also fulfill the following criteria will be eligible:

• The organization is registered as a society under the Registration of Societies Act (XXI of 1860) or similar Acts, or as a Trust or as a Not-for-Profit Company, at least for a period of three years; and
• The applicant organization will submit a recommendation letter in the prescribed format (Annexure-I) from the District Authority (District Magistrate/District Collector/Deputy Commissioner) in this regard Or State Governments/Union Territories/District Authorities.

Offline

Application Process:
Step 01: Applications are invited for Central financial assistance from not-for-profit organizations who are engaged at least for the past three years in the desired allied cultural activities/State Governments/Union Territories/District Authorities under the scheme who fulfills the eligibility criteria prescribed in the guidelines of the scheme sub-component.
Step 02: National Science Centre (NSC) under the Ministry of Culture will notify the scheme sub-component through its website/Ministry’s website: http://nscd.gov.in & https://indiaculture.nic.in
Step 03: Duly filled applications in the prescribed proforma along with the checklist and all the requisite enclosures would have to be sent by email to director@nscd.gov.in/ nscdl01@gmail.com or any valid medium of communication to “The Director, National Science Centre, Near Gate No. 1, Bhairon Road, Pragati Maidan, New Delh-110001.”
Note 01: All relevant documents must accompany the application.
Note 02: All registered not-for-profit organizations that want to apply under the scheme component are required to first sign up/register with NGO Darpan Portal: https://ngodarpan.gov.in/ and obtain Unique ID No.
Note 03: All entries in the application form should be legible and filled in clearly.
Note 04: Each page of the application and enclosures should be serially numbered and signed by the authorized signatory of the organization. Further, the page number of the relevant document should clearly be indicated on the checklist.
Note 05: It may be noted that incomplete applications and applications without the necessary enclosures as mentioned in the application form will not be entertained, in any respect. Applications, duly filled in and supported by all the required documents, would be taken up for consideration by the Expert Committee.
Evaluation Process:
Step 01: All applications received by the National Science Centre (NSC), New Delhi will be scrutinized for completeness as per the requirements of the Scheme sub-component as mentioned in the Checklist of the application form. Applications that are incomplete (without requisite documents) will not be processed further for evaluation by the Expert Committee. Deficiencies in the application will be intimated by NSC, New Delhi to the applicant organizations under intimation to the Performing Arts Section, Ministry of Culture.
Step 02: Technical appraisal of the equipment for which financial assistance is sought shall be done by National Science Centre (NSC), New Delhi.
Step 03: There will be an Expert Committee constituted under the Chairpersonship of Joint Secretary (P.Arts), Ministry of Culture to evaluate the applications received under the scheme subcomponent. Director, NSC, New Delhi, and Director General, NCSM, Kolkata, or his representative/nominee will be Members whereas Director/Deputy Secretary (P.Arts) will be the Member Secretary of the Committee.
Step 04: Applications complete in all respects will be taken up for consideration by the Expert Committee, which will meet from time to time during the year, depending on the number of applications received for the grant.
Step 05: The Expert Committee will evaluate each project proposal on its merit, with specific reference to the following:
(a) Whether the applicant organization is well established in the field and has got an identity of its own;
(b) Whether the proposal is well-conceived;
(c) Financial appraisal of the project whether the cost estimates are reasonable; and
(d) Whether the organization has the capacity or has made arrangements to bring in its matching share to complete the project.
Step 06: As far as possible the proposals will be considered and recommended keeping in view the geographical spread of the country.