Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has pledged to financially support 25,000 daily wage workers from the film industry in the wake of the national lockdown, according to Federation of Western Indian Cine Employees (FWICE).
According to FWICE president B N Tiwari, Salman via his Being Human Foundation reached out to their organisation to help the workers.
“Salman’s Being Human Foundation has come forward to help daily wage workers. They called us three days ago. We have about 5 lakh workers out of which 25,000 are in dire need of financial help. Being Human Foundation said they will take care of these workers on their own. They have asked for account details of these 25,000 workers as they want to ensure that money reaches them directly,” Tiwari told PTI.
Meanwhile, Bhojpuri actor and politician Ravi Kishan is also helping technicians from Bhojpuri film industry. He has been donating ration to the needy. Akshay Kumar has pledged to contribute Rs 25 crores to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s coronavirus relief fund. “Main kaun hota hoon ‘charity’ yah ‘donate’ karne waala? (who am I to donate or make any charity?)”. Doosri baat ki hum apni country ko Bharat Maa kehte hain. Mera yeh contribution actually mera nahi hai. Yeh meri maa ki taraf se Bharat Maa ko hai. (We address our country as Bharat Maa. So this contribution is not from me. It is from my mother to my motherland, Bharat Maa.),” he had told Hindustan Times. Earlier in the week, filmmakers and actors, including Karan Johar, Taapsee Pannu, Ayushmann Khurrana, Kiara Advani, Rakul Preet Singh, Sidharth Malhotra, and Nitesh Tiwari pledged their support to a new initiative aimed at supporting the daily wage earners. The initiative, 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, will provide families of daily wage workers with 10 days of essential food supplies.