COVID-19: Aditya Chopra to provide financial aid to cine workers
(Sourced from PTI)
Filmmaker and Yash Raj Films Chairman Aditya Chopra on Friday launched the Yash Chopra Saathi initiative to provide financial support to the daily wage earners of the film industry, who are affected due to the second wave of the deadly coronavirus pandemic. The Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) has about 2.5 lakh registered workers.
Under the initiative, the Yash Chopra Foundation will provide Rs. 5,000 to women and senior citizens working in the film industry as well as distribute ration kits to workers for a family of four for an entire month through their NGO partners Youth Feed India.
Those in need can apply to avail the support through an online application process, a press release issued by the production house said. Akshaye Widhani, Senior Vice President, Yash Raj Films said, "The foundation is committed to provide support to the Hindi film industry and its workers, who have been an integral part of their 50-year journey."
"The pandemic has pushed the backbone of our industry, the daily workers, to a breaking point and YRF wants to support as many workers and their families who are in need due to the loss of livelihood," Widhani said. "Yash Chopra Saathi Initiative is aiming to provide support to pandemic hit workers of our industry who we urgently need to focus on," he stated.
Last week, Yash Raj Films had also requested Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to help the production house in vaccinating 30,000 cine workers of the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) in Mumbai. The proposal sent to Thackeray was also followed up by a letter by FWICE, requesting the government to consider the studio's request.
The letter sent in by the cine body, as published by the Times of India, says that YRF has agreed to "bear the entire expenses" of setting up the vaccination center for carrying out the vaccination drive via the Yash Chopra Foundation. The drive will cover 30,000 FWICE registered artists, workers, and technicians who have been working in the Media and Entertainment Industry.
