Is the Long Term Project Grant a Scholarship for Art Students?

No. It funded a project that a registered institution or a Goan practitioner with 15 years in the field was already running. A student who wants funded training in an art form outside Goa or outside India belongs in the Directorate's separate Assistance to Students Seeking Education Outside Goa, which carries its own age limit, income test and caps (Citizen Charter 2022-23) and appears among the schemes the Directorate ran in 2024-2025 (Annual Administration Report 2024-2025).

How Do I Apply for Art and Culture Funding in Goa in 2026?

Through one of the Directorate's other grants, since this one is closed. The department has not said which scheme Sarjansheel duplicated, but two in its Citizen Charter cover similar ground. Special Financial Assistance for organizing cultural events pays up to Rs 5.00 lakh or 80% of the event's expenditure, whichever is less, to institutions, groups or individuals, and the application is due at least 30 days before the event. The Maintenance Grant reimburses a registered Goan institution up to 80% of its expenditure for the last financial year, with a ceiling that rises to Rs 3.00 lakh for Group A institutions (Citizen Charter 2022-23). Both were paying out in 2024-2025: the Annual Administration Report records Rs 866.7 lakh used under the cultural events scheme and Rs 33.35 lakh under the Maintenance Grant that year (Annual Administration Report 2024-2025).

What Is a Grant-in-Aid Scheme?

For Goa's Directorate of Art and Culture, grant-in-aid is the first heading in its list of schemes, split three ways in the Citizen Charter: grant-in-aid to NGOs, which holds the cultural events assistance, the Maintenance Grant and the Mother Tereza one-time grant; other grant-in-aid schemes; and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe development schemes. Sarjansheel sat in the second group, beside the outside-Goa student assistance, the publishers' assistance, Kalakar Kritadnyata Nidhi and the grant for bhajani and choir groups to buy musical instruments (Citizen Charter 2022-23).

What Grants Does the Ministry of Culture Offer Performing Arts Institutions?

The Ministry of Culture's schemes page lists, among others, Financial Assistance for Promotion of Guru-Shishya Parampara (Repertory grant), which pays honorariums to established gurus and their troupes; Financial Assistance for Building Grants including Studio Theatres, for building or renovating cultural spaces; and the Cultural Function and Production Grant, which supports cultural events and productions (Ministry of Culture, schemes). These are central schemes with their own rules and application routes, not grants from Goa's Directorate.

What specific foundational documents are we required to submit when applying for this assistance scheme as an institution?

You must submit a copy of your Constitution, along with the Bye-laws, Rules, and Regulations of your institution.

How much relevant prior experience in the field of Art and Culture must an individual applicant demonstrate to successfully qualify for this financial support?

The individual must have contributed for a period of at least 15 years in the relevant field of Art and Culture to be eligible for the scheme.

If my institution is not registered under the Societies Registration Act, are there any other specific legal frameworks under which we can be registered and still be eligible?

Yes, institutions are also eligible for the benefit under this scheme if they are registered under the Indian Trust Act.

What is the absolute maximum amount of financial assistance that an eligible institution or individual can expect to receive annually under the terms of this scheme?

The maximum ceiling for the financial grant is limited to ₹5,00,000/- (Indian Rupees Five Lakhs) per annum for the eligible applicant.

What financial documentation must be included in our application packet to verify the institution's fiscal standing and history?

Institutions must submit audited statements of accounts covering the last 3 preceding years, which must be duly signed by a Chartered Accountant.

When submitting an application as an individual, what is the required documentation to confirm the duration of my residency in Goa?

Individuals must submit a copy of the Residence Certificate confirming their residency in Goa for a period of 15 years or more.

What type of core activity must our institution be involved in for us to successfully avail the financial assistance being offered through this program?

To avail benefits, the applying institution must be actively involved in a specific long term project within the overall field of Art and Culture.

If I am applying as an individual, what criteria must my proposed project meet in relation to my cultural engagement activities?

The individual must be involved in a long term project in the field of Art and Culture to be eligible for the scheme.

Besides the project plan, what mandatory detailed report must I submit to demonstrate my history of involvement in the Art and Culture sector?

You must submit a Detailed Report documenting your contribution to the relevant field of Art and Culture over the last 15 years.

What is the minimum required duration for which an individual must have maintained residency in Goa before they can apply for this financial assistance?

The applicant must be a resident of Goa for a minimum duration of 15 years or more to be eligible to apply as an individual.

What kind of written description of the proposed activities should the institution submit to describe the scope of the project?

The institution must provide a Detailed Project Report specifically for the long term project for which financial support is being requested under this Scheme.

Is there a specific percentage of the total project expenditure that the Department of Art and Culture is able to cover through the awarded grant?

Yes, eligible institutions or individuals shall be entitled to a grant covering 80% of the total expenditure involved in the project.

I am an individual applicant residing in the State; do I need to belong to a specific demographic group to be considered eligible for the grant?

Yes, individual applicants must specifically be from the Goan community to be considered eligible for the benefit under this scheme.

As an organization applying for assistance, must my institution be specifically registered under the 1860 Societies Registration Act to qualify for these benefits?

Yes, institutions are eligible for benefit under this scheme if they are registered under the Society's Registration Act, 1860.

Scholarship

Scheme To Provide Grant To The Institution(s)/Individual(s) For Long Term Project In The Field Of Art And Culture(SPGIILTPFAC)

Cash

State/ UT

Goa State Government Goa myScheme record

Eligibility

The applicant must be registered under the Society’s Registration Act, 1860.

Region

Goa

Award

Cash

Deadline

Not published by the source

Overview

About SPGIILTPFAC

This long scheme name belongs to Sarjansheel Goa, a 2007 grant from Goa's Directorate of Art and Culture for registered cultural societies and trusts, and for Goan artists with 15 years in their field, which paid up to 80% of the cost of a long-term art or culture project (Directorate of Art and Culture, scheme page as archived in August 2024; Citizen Charter 2022-23). Despite the scholarship wording in its official record, it never paid for a student's studies, and it is no longer running: an annexure to the Art and Culture department's answer in the Goa Legislative Assembly says the scheme "was discontinued due to duplication of scheme" (Goa Legislative Assembly, Annexure C).

The Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of Goa, framed the scheme as the "Scheme to provide Grant to the institution(s)/individual(s) for Long Term Project in the Field of Art and Culture, 2007 (Sarjansheel Goa)", and its own text says it would remain in force up to 31st March 2023 (Directorate of Art and Culture, scheme page; Directorate of Art and Culture, scheme page as archived in August 2024).

Later government records all point the same way. The Assembly annexure gives duplication as the reason, names neither the scheme it duplicated nor a date, and sits beside two other schemes the department reports as discontinued or revised (Goa Legislative Assembly, Annexure C). The Government's Annual Administration Report for 2024-2025, laid in the Assembly, lists the 21 state schemes the Directorate ran that year with the funds allotted and used for each, and this scheme is not among them (Annual Administration Report 2024-2025). The Directorate's Performance Budget 2025-26 keeps a row for "Financial Assistance to the Institution for long term project" but enters no achievement for 2023-24 or 2024-25 and no target for 2024-25 or 2025-26 (Performance Budget 2025-26), and the Art and Culture Demand for Grants for 2025-26 has no budget head for it (Demand No. 43, 2025-26).

The Directorate's website has not caught up. Its Schemes page still links the scheme, and the scheme page carries no note that it has closed (Directorate of Art and Culture, schemes list).

Who runs it

Provider

Goa State Government

State / UT Government

Art, Culture and Museums Department

At a glance

Key details

Level	State/ UT
Scheme type	Not published by the source
Category	Education & Learning
Beneficiaries	University / Institution
Benefit type	Cash
Application mode	Offline
Direct Benefit Transfer	No
Tags	Institution, Art, Culture, Grant, Financial Assistance
Source record	myScheme, 2026-07-08official-site· 2026-07-08

Calendar

Important dates

The scheme never announced a yearly application window, so its dates are the dates of its own life cycle.

Milestone	Date	What the record says
Scheme framed as Sarjansheel Goa	2007	Short title of the scheme
Finance Department concurrence	24 August 2007	Issued with the Finance Department's concurrence
End of the scheme's stated term	31 March 2023	"shall remain in force upto 31st March 2023"
Annual Administration Report	2024-2025	Not among the 21 state schemes listed
Performance Budget 2025-26	2023-24 to 2025-26	No achievement or target entered
Legislative Assembly annexure	Not dated in the annexure	Discontinued due to duplication of scheme

Who can apply

Eligibility criteria

Sarjansheel tested track record, not age or income. The Directorate's Citizen Charter sets no income ceiling and no age limit for either of its two routes, institution or individual (Citizen Charter 2022-23).

For an institution, registration was the gate: a society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, or a trust under the Indian Trust Act, already involved in a long-term art or culture project. An unregistered troupe or mandal could not use this route. That is a real difference from the Directorate's Special Financial Assistance for organizing cultural events, which accepts registered and unregistered groups as well as individuals, once in a financial year (Citizen Charter 2022-23).

For an individual, there were two separate 15-year tests on top of belonging to the Goan community: residence in Goa for 15 years or more, and at least 15 years of contribution to the relevant field (Citizen Charter 2022-23). The scheme text defines neither "Goan community" nor "long term project" (Directorate of Art and Culture, scheme page).

The applicant must be registered under the Society’s Registration Act, 1860.
The applicant must be registered under the Indian Trust Act.
The applicant must be involved in a long term project in the field of Art and Culture.
The applicant must be from the Goan community.
The applicant must be a resident of Goa for 15 years or more.
The applicant must be involved in a long term project in the field of Art and Culture.
The applicant must have contributed at least 15 years in the relevant field.

Who cannot apply

Exclusions

The scheme publishes no exclusion list. The only exclusions are the ones its own conditions imply: a group without registration under either Act, and an individual who falls short of either 15-year threshold (Citizen Charter 2022-23).

Continuation

Renewal conditions

The scheme sets its ceiling per annum but says nothing about renewing a grant into a second year, and with the scheme discontinued there is no cycle left to renew into.

What you get

Award & benefits

The grant was a share of cost, not a fixed sum. An eligible institution or individual was entitled to up to 80% of the total expenditure involved, subject to a ceiling of Rs 5.00 lakh per annum, and the Department could restrict the number of beneficiaries to the funds it had (Citizen Charter 2022-23). The applicant therefore always carried at least a fifth of the project's cost, and the ceiling was a limit rather than an entitlement: the amount was whatever the Sub-Committee, the Department or the Government decided on the nature and scope of the project, the reputation of the institution and the overall impact on society.

Two lines in the official record, on young talent trained under a renowned teacher outside the State and on scholarships for students, read like another scheme's purpose. They come from the Objectives tab of the Directorate's scheme page, and that wording matches, almost word for word, the objectives the Citizen Charter gives for a different Directorate scheme, Assistance to Students Seeking Education Outside Goa. The Charter's own objectives for Sarjansheel are to create a cultural environment in Goa, fund institutions and individuals on long-term art and culture projects, and preserve Goa's cultural heritage, and no clause on eligibility, documents or quantum provides for a student scholarship (Citizen Charter 2022-23; Directorate of Art and Culture, scheme page).

Financial Grant: Eligible institutions or individuals shall be entitled for a grant to the extent of 80% of the total expenditure involved.- Maximum Ceiling: The maximum financial grant limit provided under this scheme is ₹5,00,000/- (Indian Rupees Five Lakhs) per annum.- Support for Talent and Education: The scheme encourages young talents in the State to excel their talent to reach the highest possible standard/merit under the guidance of a renowned teacher/artist outside the State.- Scholarships: Financial support is given to students seeking to get basic or advanced education/training in any field of Art and Culture by way of scholarships.- Disbursement Conditions: The actual financial grant received shall be decided by the Sub-Committee/Department of Art and Culture/Government. This decision is based on the nature and scope of the project, the reputation of the institution, and taking into consideration the overall impact on the society.- Fund Restriction: The Department/Government may restrict the number of institutions according to the availability of funds.- Disbursement: The amount is disbursed to the eligible institution(s)/individual(s) in the form of a cheque, after the Director of Art and Culture obtains Government approval based on the Sub-Committee's recommendations.

What to prepare

Documents required

The scheme asks for an application "in writing" with the listed papers and names no prescribed form (Directorate of Art and Culture, scheme page). The document that carried the case on both routes was the detailed project report for the specific long-term project; the rest of the list proves standing, through registration and three years of audited accounts for an institution, and through the residence certificate and a report of 15 years' contribution for an individual (Citizen Charter 2022-23).

Copy Of Constitution/Bye Laws/Rules And Regulations.

Registration Certificate.

Audited Statement Of Accounts Of Last 3 Preceding Years (Duly Signed By The Chartered Accountant).

Detailed Project Report Of That Particular Long Term Project For Which Financial Support Is Asked Under This Scheme.

Any Other Relevant Documents.

Copy Of Residence Certificate Of 15 Years Or More In Goa.

Detailed Report Of The Contribution For The Last 15 Years To The Relevant Field Of Art And Culture.

Detailed Project Report Of That Particular Long Term Project For Which Financial Support Is Asked Under This Scheme.

Any Other Relevant Documents.

Step by step

How to apply

No application can be made now, because the scheme is discontinued and has no application window. When it ran, the route was a written application to the Directorate of Art and Culture, and the Sub-Committee met as and when required to consider what had come in, so there was no fixed window to aim for (Directorate of Art and Culture, scheme page).

Checking on an Application Already Filed

There is no online status page to check. The official record lists the application mode as offline and the scheme as outside direct benefit transfer (myScheme), and the grant was paid by cheque once the Government approved the Sub-Committee's recommendation. A question about an old file goes to the desk named under Contact.

1
Apply offline
The official links on this page lead to the application portal.

How winners are picked

Selection process

Selection sat with a Sub-Committee that the Government could constitute for the scheme. It met as and when required, considered the applications, and recommended the approved names with the amount sanctioned to each; the Director of Art and Culture then obtained the Government's approval and released the money by cheque (Directorate of Art and Culture, scheme page; Directorate of Art and Culture, Sub-Committee clause as archived).

No scoring rule is published, and neither is a list of who was funded. The scheme page's Beneficiaries tab carries a single heading, "Amount sanctioned under scholarship scheme for 2016-2017", with no names or amounts beneath it (Directorate of Art and Culture, scheme page; Directorate of Art and Culture, Beneficiaries tab as archived).

Fine print

Terms & conditions

Because the scheme never defined a "long term project" or the "Goan community", its interpretation clause carried real weight: whether a given project or applicant qualified was, in the end, the Government's question to decide (Directorate of Art and Culture, scheme page). The Government also kept the power to relax any clause for reasons recorded and to frame guidelines "if required", and the scheme page posts no guidelines. A grievance over implementation went to the Minister for Art and Culture, whose decision was final, in the same clause that records the scheme as issued with the Finance Department's concurrence (Directorate of Art and Culture, Redressal of Grievances clause as archived).

Get help

Contact

Under the Citizen Charter 2022-23, a question about a Sarjansheel file goes to the ACO II desk of the Directorate at Sanskruti Bhavan, Patto, Panaji: 0832-2404623 or aco3-dac.goa@nic.in (Citizen Charter 2022-23). The Charter names the same desk for the cultural events assistance and the Maintenance Grant, the two live grants closest to this one, so the same office can speak to both the old file and the alternatives. The 2022-23 edition is the only one the Directorate's Citizen Charter page links (Directorate of Art and Culture, Citizen Charter page).

Source

Official links

Guidelines myScheme (Government of India)

Questions

SPGIILTPFAC – FAQ

Frequently asked questions

From the official scheme FAQ (myScheme)

Read this

Disclaimer

Scheme details are compiled from myScheme, the Government of India’s official scheme-discovery platform, and are reproduced without alteration. Amounts, deadlines and eligibility change between cycles, so always confirm on the official links above before applying. Expertie does not process applications or charge fees.

References

Sources

Directorate of Art and Culture, scheme page as archived in August 2024 – web.archive.org
Citizen Charter 2022-23 – artandculture.goa.gov.in
Goa Legislative Assembly, Annexure C – static.goavidhansabha.gov.in
myScheme – myscheme.gov.in
Ministry of Culture, schemes – culture.gov.in