Travel Grants to Writers

1. The main object of this scheme is to enable an empanelled writer to come into close contact with a language region other than his own within India, acquaint him with writers and people he would not ordinarily meet and thereby widen his awareness and sensibility. The scheme also permits travel to attend functions organised by the Sahitya Akademi in a region other than that to which the empanelled writer belongs.


2. The writers eligible to travel grant should not be above 40 years of age.


3. The panel of writers shall be prepared by each Language Advisory Board. In respect of languages other than those recognised by the Akademi, writers may be selected by the President.


4. Funds under the travel grant will be placed with the Regional Secretaries. Some funds will be retained at the Headquarters for meeting the cost of the scheme in respect of languages dealt with at the Head Office.


5. The Secretary/Regional Secretary shall decide on the writers to be provided with the travel grant. In doing so, he shall take into account the order of preference indicated by each Language Advisory Board and the funds available with him. He shall ensure that the benefit of this scheme is available equitably to writers of all the languages dealt with by him subject, of course, to the approval of their travel plans and their readiness to undertake travel.


6. The scheme also provides for grants to authors to enable them to attend functions organised by the Akademi. Those writers too should qualify for the grant under rule-3. The Regional Secretary shall be in touch with the Head Office and recommend names out of the panel prepared by Advisory Boards.


7. A writer who is offered this grant, and is interested in it, shall submit to the Regional Secretary of the concerned office (and to the Secretary of the Akademi if he is a writer in Rajasthani, Hindi, Dogri, Kashmiri, Urdu, English, Nepali, Sanskrit, Punjabi or Maithili) a letter of acceptance in Form A along with a travel plan in Form B.
 

8. The bill shall be submitted by him within a month after the completion of his journey.


9. In case the travel is not undertaken on schedule, the amount of advance will have to be refunded to the Akademi within a maximum period of three months of its disbursement.


10. A grantee shall not be allowed to break up the grant in parts. The whole grant must be utilised during the course of a single tour.


11. All arrangements regarding railway reservations, accommodation, local and regional travel, etc. will have to be made by the grantee himself. The Sahitya Akademi will not undertake any responsibility for these matters.


12. The Sahitya Akademi shall not bear any responsibility for the personal health and safety of the grantee or for the security of his belongings.


13. Wherever possible, the Akademi may inform the literary institutions recognised by it and the libraries of the area of the visit of the grantee, requesting them to extend their cooperation to him to make his visit fruitful.


14. The grantee will be expected to project a healthy image of the Sahitya Akademi and its broad national objectives and functions in the course of his lectures, talks or other literary activities to the places he visits.


15. The grantee should be able to express himself cogently either in English or Hindi or in the principal language of the region he proposes to visit. On completion of the travel for which the grant is sanctioned, the grantee will have to submit a formal report to the Akademi, stating therein the persons he met or institutions he visited and his experiences of the visit.


16. A writer who avails of a travel grant of the Sahitya Akademi shall not draw travelling allowance or receive reimbursement of travel expenses from any other source whatsoever.


17. The plans for travel should be so drawn that the amount of travel grant payable remains within the maximum limit of Rs. 15,000 (Rupees fifteen thousand only).


18. A writer who has availed of one travel grant of the Sahitya Akademi will not be eligible for another travel grant.