Pension of Artists should be increased - MLA Sunitha Reddy
HYDERABAD, The Tourism Minister, J. Geetha Reddy, has said that the Government is examining a proposal to allot house sites to the stage artistes in the State. Replying to a question during Question Hour in the Assembly on Thursday by V. Sunitha Laxma Reddy (Congress) and others, she said Rs. 4 crores had been earmarked for the welfare of the aged stage artistes. The Government would consider a suggestion to observe the birth anniversary of Kandukuri Veereshlingam as Cultural Day, she added. Ms. Geetha Reddy said the Government would also examine the feasibility of reviving temple dances to provide assistance to the needy artistes. Identity cards She said 20,000 identity cards had been issued to artistes and 10,000 more would be issued this year. More than 2,362 pensions had been sanctioned to them and 628 more would get the same shortly. She assured that steps would be taken to revive the dance, drama and music academies in the State. Earlier, Ms. Sunita Laxma Reddy wanted the pension of the artistes increased. Vatti Vasant Kumar and D. Sridhar Babu (both Congress) sought the revival of the art academies and preference to the folk artistes. Atchan Naidu (TDP) complained that the cultural teams, which were performing song and dance sequences to create awareness about family planning, AIDS and education, were neglected.