MUMBAI: The Producers Guild of India, Indian Film & Television Producers Council (IFTPC) and Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) on Thursday announced that they are joining hands to provide financial assistance to daily wage workers in the film industry who have been hit by the nationwide lockdown.
The country is witnessing a 21-day lockdown, as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to Health Ministry officials, till 10.25 am on Thursday, the total number of infected people in the country rose to 1,965, with the death toll at 50.
The guild and IFTPC had come together to set up a relief fund for daily wage workers affected by the production halt.
According to a press release, the FWICE has pledged support to the fundraising initiative by the guild and IFTPC, by offering to set up a transparent and efficient mechanism to disburse these funds to daily wage workers, "especially those have no other financial assistance or support available to them from any other source".
The financial assistance will be made to the workers only through direct bank payments. The first tranche of funds raised by guild and IFTPC will be made available to FWICE for disbursement in the first week of April.
Earlier, superstar Salman Khan had pledged to financially support 25,000 labourers in the film industry, while filmmaker Rohit Shetty and Ajay Devgn also came forward to donate Rs 51 lakh to the federation.