kolhapur minister of state satej patil has written to cultural minister amit deshmukh to extend the deadline for filling application for folk artists to get financial aid from the state government and at the same time increase the quota for the beneficiaries from kolhapur districtthe state in order to extend financial relief took a decision to pay rs 5000 each to all 56000 artists including those working in lesser paid folk arts from the state these artists include not only performers but also producers directors technicians and supporting staff most of these artists were out of work since the start of the covid pandemic due to lockdown and restrictions imposed by the state governmentthe artists from maharashtra are eligible for a onetime payment of rs 5000 to make up for their losses due to covid they have been asked to submit an application to the tehsildarsm but many of them could not do so even though the deadline is about to end on january 2 i therefore demanded the cultural minister to extend the deadlinethe government has fixed a quota for all eligible artists pune and mumbai have a quota of 2000 artists fixed for kolhapur district it is fixed at 1500 i have demanded the minister to increase quota for kolhapur to 2000 kolhapur is cultural centre and thousands of artists work in and around to entertain and educate the masses many artists who are out of work are unable to be get the financial help even if they are fully eligible to get it increasing quota by 500 will help accommodate those artists living in remote areas elderly artists unable to file the applications said patil