The Economics of Folk Performing Arts in India: Artists’ Incomes, Employment and Livelihood Security

Folk music, dance, and theatre are among the most visible expressions of India's living heritage, yet the people who practice them are among the nation's least economically secure workers. By examining these data sources and documents, the article explores folk performers' earnings, their working arrangements, and the support for their livelihoods provided by public policy, as reflected in these sources. Three things stand out. First, income is concentrated in a few months during festivals, weddings, and periods of high tourism demand; a government-sponsored survey found that peak-season income is almost four times that of the lean season. Second, direct public support is meagre and uneven - central assistance to veteran artists was limited to ₹6,000 per month, meaning-tested at ₹72,000 per year, and was provided to 4,636 artists, approximately 73 per cent of whom were in two states, while the Archaeological Survey of India received more than six times the budget allocated to Kala Sanskriti Vikas Yojana, the ministry's umbrella scheme for arts and artists (2025-26 estimates). Third, the official statistics examined do not distinguish between folk performers and other types of performers, meaning that income and social security coverage for folk performers are underreported. The article draws parallels to SDG 8 and SDG 11 and recommends six solutions: a national data foundation, retainer-plus-performance-fee support, an updated scheme for veteran artists, fair-fee commissioning, social protection, and inclusive digital access.