Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Monday relaxed the age limit for artistes to avail themselves of pensions benefits.

Henceforth, a male artiste will get e pension when he reaches the age of 50. Earlier, artistes used to get pension after reaching 60. In the case of female artistes, the age limit has been reduced to 40 for getting pension.

Announcing this, Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik said: "The state government has decided to slash the age criteria for pension so as to cover 50,000 artistes under the welfare scheme." Pensions will be provided under the Mukhya Mantri Kalakar Sahayata Yojna. The eligible artistes will get a monthly amount of Rs 1,200. Earlier, they used to get Rs 1,000.

Tourism and culture minister Ashok Chandra Panda said: "At present, the Odisha government is giving pension to nearly 4,000 artistes. With the fresh initiative, another 50,000 artistes will be covered under the scheme."

He said: "All artistes whether Opera artistes or folk singers will get the benefits. The Odisha government will ensure that artistes don't have to run around for getting the benefits."

To promote the cause of artistes, the government also organises an annual state-level folk dance and music festival in Bhubaneswar. The festival aims at providing folk artistes better exposure.

The government also organises the Mukteswar Dance Festival and the Konark Dance festival to showcase Odisha's rich cultural history.

Kashinath Nayak, a 60-year-old martial artiste from Jatni, who runs a paika training institute, said: "It is a welcome step taken by the government. The artistes, who dedicate the better part of their life for the promotion of the art, should be given some kind of social protection."