COVID-19 relief work: Salman Khan to provide financial aid to 25,000 cine workers
Superstar Salman Khan has come forward and pledged to offer monetary help to 25,000 daily wage earners of the film industry, the Federation of Western Indian Cine Employees (FWICE) said on Friday. According to B N Tiwari, FWICE of President, the 55-year-old actor will be paying Rs 1,500 to every worker on monthly basis. "We got a confirmation from Salman Khan last night that he will help 25,000 workers with Rs 1,500 each monthly. We will soon finalise and send the list of the workers to those who are in dire need," Tiwari told PTI.
In order to contain the spread of the coronavirus, the Maharashtra government has suspended shoot of all films and shows in the state. Following this, makers of several film and TV shoots from Mumbai recently shifted their shooting base to Goa.
However, the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) on Thursday cancelled all permissions granted for shootings in the state in the wake of the surge of COVID-19 cases.
FWICE has a total of 2.5 lakh workers including junior artists, make-up artistes, stuntmen, spotboys and technicians.
Most recently, Khan's banner Salman Khan Films announced that the revenue earned from the superstar's upcoming film "Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai" will be utilised to support COVID-19 relief work across the country.
The actor also financially supported daily wage earners in 2020 when the country witnessed nationwide lockdown in the wake of the pandemic.
Last year, Netflix had announced that it will contribute Rs 7.5 crore to Producers Guild of India (PGI) Relief Fund to help daily wage earners. Tiwari revealed that the two organisations will transfer Rs 3.5 crore from the sum to 7,000 wage workers.
"We are informed that Netflix and Producers Guild of India will help 7,000 cine workers with Rs 5,000 each. A total of Rs 3.5 crore help. We have sent them the list of the workers," Tiwari said.
The FWICE president lamented the callous behaviour of the state and central governments, saying that there has been no help from them for the daily wage earners.
"There is no help from the state or central government so far for the workers and this is really disheartening," he said.
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