Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has pledged to offer monetary help to 25,000 daily wage earners of the film industry, says the Federation of Western Indian Cine Employees (FWICE). The 55-year-old actor will be paying Rs 1,500 to every worker on a monthly basis.
BN Tiwari, President of FWICE, told PTI that they received confirmation from Salman Khan last night that he will help 25,000 workers with Rs 1,500 each monthly. “We will soon finalize and send the list of the workers in dire need.” The Maharashtra state government, in order to stem the spread of COVID-19, has suspended shoot of all films and shows in the state. As such, makers of several films 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 shooting in the state in the wake of the spike in COVID-19 cases.
FWICE has a total of 2.5 lakh workers including junior artists, make-up artistes, stuntmen, spotboys and technicians. Khan’s banner Salman Khan Films had recently announced that revenue earned from the superstar’s upcoming film Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai will be utilized to support COVID-19 relief work across the county. The actor also financially supported daily wage earners in 2020 when India witnessed nationwide lockdown in the wake of the pandemic.
Moreover, Netflix had also announced that it will contribute Rs 7.5 crore to Producers Guild of India (PGI) Relief Fund to help daily wage earners. Tiwari said the two organizations will transfer Rs 3.5 crore from the sum to 7,000 wage workers. “We are informed that Netflix and PGI 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.”
Also Read: Joke is on Wall Street, Dogecoin surges over 26,000% in last 6 months
However, the FWICE president lamented the callous behavior of the state and central governments. He pointed out that there has been no help from the state or central government so far for the workers and this is really disheartening.
