Kalamandalam Gopi seeks revised pension to survive

Kalamandalam Gopi, the iconic Kathakali actor, has made an emotional appeal to the government to provide him with the revised pension to sustain his life.
Kathakali maestro Kalamandalam Gopi
Kathakali maestro Kalamandalam Gopi

KOCHI: Kalamandalam Gopi, the iconic Kathakali actor, has made an emotional appeal to the government to provide him with the revised pension to sustain his life. The 84-year-old actor, who is known for his distinguished style of performance, dramatic portrayal of noble characters and spontaneous expressions has been keeping away from the stage for the past three years due to acute knee pain.

“I have not performed for the past three years due to pain in the knee and doctors have advised me to undergo a knee replacement surgery. But I am unable to due to financial constraints. With no stage programmes, my family survives solely on the pension provided by the government as a former tutor at Kerala Kalamandalam. Though the pension was revised in 2019, the department of culture has not implemented the revision. My humble request to the government is to provide me the revised pension,” he told TNIE.

When contacted, Kerala Kalamandalam vice-chancellor T K Narayanan said the pay revision has not been implemented in the varsity as the department of culture is yet to approve it. “We had submitted a proposal to the government to implement the pay revision on June 9, 2021. We got a letter from the department on January 13, 2022 seeking the minutes of the executive board meeting which approved the pay revision. We will file a reply soon and the revision of salary and pension will be implemented soon,” he said.

The office of minister for culture Saji Cherian said the pay revision is being implemented in phases and the government will expedite the procedure. “The pay revision was implemented for government employees in February 2021. It is being implemented in phases in PSUs, corporations and universities.The government will take a lenient view on the plea of Kalamandalam Gopi and will expedite the process,” said an official.

The country bestowed the Padma Shri award on Gopi, revered as ‘Gopi Asan’ in the cultural circle, in 2009. He is also the recipient of many honours including Kerala Sangeeta Nataka Academy Award and Kendra Sahitya Akademy Award. He also acted in movies like Vanaprastham and Santham.

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