Scheme Of Financial Assistance For The Preservation And Development Of Cultural Heritage Of The Himalayas

The scheme “Scheme of Financial Assistance for the Preservation and Development of Cultural Heritage of the Himalayas” was launched by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. The objective of the scheme is to promote, protect and preserve the cultural heritage of the Himalayan region spreading in UT of Jammu & Kashmir, UT of Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh through research, documentation, dissemination, etc.
Mode of and Conditions for Release of Grants:

• The grant shall be given based on the appraisal of applications and recommendations by the Expert Advisory Committee and thereafter administrative approval and financial concurrence of competent authorities in the Ministry of Culture.
• The grants will be paid in two equal installments, the first being normally released with the approval of the project. The second installment will be released on completion of the project and on receipt of duly audited statement of accounts showing the utilization of the entire amount of grant plus the share of the grantee/concerned State/U.T. Government and other documents. The release of the balance of the grant will be decided on the basis of the actual expenditure incurred on the project subject to the maximum limit.
• An organization in receipt of financial assistance under the scheme shall be open to inspection by an officer of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, or the State Government concerned.
• The accounts of the project shall be maintained properly and separately and submitted to the Government of India as and when required and will be subject to check by an officer of the Central Government or the State Government or by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India at his discretion.
• The organization shall maintain a record of all assets acquired wholly or substantially out of the Central Government grant and shall not dispose of or encumber or utilize for purposes other than those for which the grant was given without prior approval of the Government of India.
• If at any time, the Government of India has reason to believe that the sanctioned money is not being utilized for approved purposes, the payment of the grant may be stopped and the earlier grants recovered.
• The organization must exercise reasonable economy in the working of the approved project.
• The grantee organization shall furnish to the Ministry of Culture a quarterly progress report of the project indicating in detail both the physical achievements and the expenditure incurred on each of the approved items separately.
• The grantee shall submit three copies of the Project Report duly bound/Audio-Video CDs/Photographs to the Ministry of Culture and one copy to the State Government where the project has been undertaken.
• Applications of the organizations against which the previous grant/ Utilisation certificate is pending will not be considered.

Mode of Payment: All payments will be made through electronic transfers.
Special Provision:
The Expert Advisory Committee (EAC) on the scheme is empowered to recommend or reject any proposal received without or with the recommendation of State Government/U.T. administration/ Local Administration and also to recommend the amount beyond the maximum limit but not exceeding ₹30.00 lacs from this scheme, in respect of any proposal which is of outstanding merit for which the EAC feels that the maximum limit would not be sufficient for undertaking the said project, with the approval of Minister (Culture) and concurrence of AS & FA, Ministry of Culture.
Inspection & Monitoring:
Inspection would be carried out by Ministry officials every year at least in 5% of the cases. The concerned State Govt., District Collector/Dy. Commissioner will also monitor.
Penalties in case of Misutilisation of grants:
The members of the executive body of the organization would be liable for the recovery of misused grants. The organization will also be blacklisted for misuse of funds, fake registration certificate, etc. All immovable assets created from the Government grants would be taken over by local administration prescribed by the Ministry of Culture.

The financial assistance is given for any of the items listed below up to a maximum of ₹10.00 lakhs to any single organization:
Sl. No.ItemsMaximum amount per annum1Study and research on cultural heritage ₹10.00 lakhs
2Preservation of old manuscripts, literature, art & crafts, and documentation of cultural activities/ events like music, dance, etc. ₹10.00 lakhs
3Dissemination through audio-visual programmes of art and culture ₹10.00 lakhs
4Training in Traditional and Folk Art ₹10.00 lakhs
Note 01: The maximum grant admissible to an organization would be 75% of the total expenditure to be incurred on any item subject to the maximum ceiling fixed. The remaining 25% expenditure or more should be met by the State Govt./U.T.
Note 02: Administration failing which the grantee organization could contribute the amount from their own resources. However, in the case of Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, funding will be shared between the Government of India and the organization in the ratio of 90:10 respectively.

1. The voluntary organization should be registered as a society under the Societies Registration Act 1860 or as a public trust under Indian Trust Act, 1882, and shall have been functioning for a period of three years.
2. Colleges and Universities are also eligible to apply.
3. The organization should have the capacity to undertake and promote research projects. It should have facilities, resources, and personnel to implement the scheme for which the grant is required.
4. A college applying for the grant should be affiliated with the University.
5. Grants from this scheme will be given only to those organizations which are not in receipt of grants from any other source for similar purposes.

Note 01: The Colleges and Universities should introduce in their curriculum or research course aspects of studies relating to the preservation of Himalayan art and culture, in case not already done.
Note 02: The grants will be ad-hoc and of non-recurring nature.
Note 03: Organizations that are doing good work in the field and have resources for meeting matching funds will be given preference.

Offline

Step 01: Ministry of Culture invites applications in the prescribed format from Voluntary Organizations registered under the Societies Registration Act (XXI of 1860) or similar Acts. The application form may be downloaded from the Ministry of Culture website www.indiaculture.nic.in
Step 02: The organization/individual shall submit a complete application along with all the necessary documents /information through the State Government, where the project is proposed to be implemented, to the Ministry of Culture.
Step 03: The organizations located in Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh & Leh and Kargil districts of the Union Territory of Ladakh are exempted to submit their applications direct to the Ministry of Culture only with the recommendation of the concerned District Collector/Dy. Commissioner.
Step 04: The application in the prescribed format complete in all respect, duly spiral bound and continuously page numbered, along with a check-list duly recommended should be sent to the Section Officer, BTI Section, Ministry of Culture, Zed Floor, Puratatav Bhawan, D Block, GPO Complex, INA, New Delhi-110023.
Note 01: The Organization against which the previous grant/Utilization Certificate under the scheme is pending will not be considered for the fresh grant.
Note 02: The organization shall also submit the requisite documents such as (i) Bond, (ii) Resolution, (iii) Bank Authorization letter, and (iv) Agency registration form along with the application form.
Note 03: The organization should register their society on the Website of NITI Ayog i.e. "https://ngodarpan.gov.in/" for obtaining a Unique ID, if not registered earlier. The organization should also link their bank account number with their PAN Card. The Unique ID of NITI Ayog and PFMS User ID are mandatory.
Note 04: Incomplete applications not supported by the required documents and applications received without the recommendation of the prescribed authority will not be considered and summarily rejected.