CAWT Chairman Preety Sapru and CINTAA General Secretary Upasana Singh requested a meeting with Hon’ble Labour Minister Akash Pandurang Fudkar to discuss the demands of their members. They were accompanied by the founder trustee of CAWT Johnny Lever, CAWT secretary Manoj Joshi, and trustee Vindu Dara Singh.
CINTAA General Secretary Upasana Singh said, “The meeting was very productive, with the minister promising to resolve the issues. He assured that every problem faced by the actors would be addressed, and we can expect some good news soon as Mr Akash Ji and Arun Govil Ji are working hard to make this happen.”
Elaborating further, she added, “We still don’t have industry status and, therefore, don’t receive the benefits that other industries get from the government. Our daily wage artists are paid after 90 days, and the long working hours are unfair to them.”Singh also shared, “An actor who works for four days gets paid after 90 days. How are they supposed to run their households? This needs to be addressed immediately. I am glad the minister has listened to our concerns, and Arun Govil has raised this issue in Parliament.”
Manoj Joshi, who was also present in the meeting, said payments should be made within 35 days of the shoot, and the process needs to be regularised. He also mentioned that the contracts for actors are mostly one-sided and need to be standardised soon.
Johnny Lever said, “This is an old issue where our members don’t get paid on time, working conditions are poor, and it’s getting worse. I have been part of many delegations that have taken our artists’ issues to the government several times.”
He added, “I really don’t understand why producers behave in such an insensitive manner. They don’t even pay the workers. When will we become Hollywood? I don’t see that happening the way things are going, as the workers don’t get their rights. If someone gets injured, all we hear is that Johnny Lever, Shah Rukh, or Akshay Kumar helped them. There is no system to address such cases.”
