BN Tiwari, the president of the Federation of Western Indian Cine Employees (FWICE), has slammed Akshay Kumar for donating Rs 25 crore to the PM-Cares fund to be in the good books of Prime Minister, but he ignored cine workers.
Bollywood filmmakers postponed all their filmy activities like shooting, promotion and releases after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nation-wide lockdown for 21 days to fight against the Coronavirus. This lockdown is affecting the lives of 5,00,000 daily-wage cine workers registered with the FWICE, according to its president BN Tiwari, who is now busy seeking the help of rich celebs from the film industry.
The lockdown has not only affected the people in the film industry, but also in all walks of life. Hence, Narendra Modi requested the citizens of the country to contribute to their welfare. Akshay Kumar was quick in responding to the Prime Minister and contributed Rs 25 crore to the PM Cares Fund. Following this, the three Khans of Bollywood had come under severe criticism for not support the PM at this hour of crisis.
Salman Khan offers financial assistance to 25,000 daily wage workers
BN Tiwari hit back at the critics of Salman Khan, saying that the actor's Being Human Foundation reached out to the FWICE to help the workers. The Bollywood superstar pledged to offer financial assistance to as many as 25,000 daily wage workers. He has sought the bank account details of the workers whose livelihood has been deeply impacted by the ongoing lockdown and he wishes to directly transfer funds to each worker.
Meanwhile, BN Tiwari took a dig at Akshay Kumar for ignoring the cine workers to impress the PM. "It's only going to get worse. People are preparing only for 21-day lockdown but we have five lakh (500,000) workers. If this extends for a month or two, we will need help from everyone," BN Tiwari told the Indian Express daily.
BN Tiwari added, "There are a thousand people ready to fund in the PM-CARES fund but the industry, which you belong to, you should donate there first. You are giving Rs25 crore (Rs250 million) to the PM-Cares fund to come in the good books of the Prime Minister but there's not been a single phone call yet to make any donation for the federation workers."
