Stipend: Artists, singers to be given Rs30,000 per month

PESHAWAR:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Directorate of Culture has decided to start paying a stipend of Rs30,000 every month to artists and singers in need.

It has been decided to start the monthly stipend for poets, singers and artist who need help in their efforts pertaining to arts and culture in the province, the culture director Mehmood Khan said in a statement issued on Thursday.

He added an amount of Rs180 million has been allocated for this purpose.

The director said artists in the province have been severely affected by the security situation in the province and needed immediate support from the government.

Initially, he said, 500 artists will be selected for the stipend and the criteria for selection will be devised at another meeting of the committee of artists, journalists as well as officials of the directorate.

A large number of artists had approached the directorate previously for financial assistance.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 31^st, 2015.