Bollywood superstar Salman Khan is doing his part amid this global pandemic. As Coronavirus has brought the world to a standstill, it has affected the families of daily wage workers. The actor has pledged to financially support 25,000 daily wage workers from the film industry, according to Federation of Western Indian Cine Employees (FWICE).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of Coronavirus as the cases have increased rapidly. The 21-day lockdown has affected thousands of families. As 5 lakh workers work under FWICE, 25,000 of them were in dire need of financial support. Said Ashok Dube of the FWICE, “We at FWICE are in the process of compiling the bank details of those 25,000 members for forwarding the same to Salman Khan. His Foundation said, Salman would like to deposit money into each of those 25,000 accounts directly.”
FWICE president B.N. Tiwari added, “Salman Khan is the only industry person who has approached us for providing financial assistance to our members who are facing very tough times due to the complete suspension of shootings and other production work in the country’s battle against the coronavirus. Sadly, no other producer, filmmaker or star has approached us.”
The daily wage workers earn about Rs. 15,000 a month. The actor already contributes Rs. 5 lakh every month, thus, taking care of their medical expenses too, revealed Ashoke Pandit, the chief adviser. He said that Salman and Salim Khan have always helped the industry.
Ashok Dube, who has been with the FWICE for two years now, also revealed, “In the last two years, Salman Khan has made contributions totalling about Rs. 1.5 crore to our worker-members in their times of need, whether for hospitalization or otherwise. God bless Salman.”
Salman's father Salim Khan also revealed that the family is looking after the meals of people in their building and his security guards. He said that we must all look after the staff. As far as Salman Khan Films is concerned, the employees were reportedly given their salaries early as soon as the lockdown was announced. The actor is even taking care of the ration of their studio members who are in dire need.
Last week, filmmakers and actors, including Karan Johar, Taapsee Pannu, Ayushmann Khurrana, Kiara Advani, Rakul Preet Singh, Sidharth Malhotra, Bhumi Pednekar, Dia Mirza, AR Murugadoss, Sanjay Dutt and Nitesh Tiwari pledged their support for daily wage earners via an initiative called I Stand With Humanity, started by organisations -- the International Association for Human Values, the Art of Living Foundation and the Indian Film and TV Industry. This program will provide 10 days of essential food supplies to the families of daily wage earners.
