Ajay Devgn donates Rs 51 lakhs to FWICE for daily wage workers of film industry

Mumbai Apr. 2: Actor Ajay Devgn has donated Rs 51 lakhs to Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) in order to support the daily wage workers from the film industry in the wake of the national lockdown.

The country is witnessing a 21-day lockdown, as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The daily wage workers across different avenues are badly hit by the lockdown.

Confirming the news, BN Tiwari, President of FWICE, told PTI, “Yes, Ajay Devgn has given us Rs 51 lakh. We are very happy with this as this amount will enable us to help our workers even more.”

Producer Ashok Pandit, who is chief advisor to FWICE, lauded the actor for the gesture in a post on Twitter.

“Dear @ajaydevgn, we thank U for your generous contribution of Rs 51 lakhs towards @fwice_mum, for the benefit of our 5 lakh #CineWorkers. You have proved time and again, especially in times of crisis, that you are a real life #Singham. God bless you. #FWICEFightsCorona #IndiaFightsCorona,” Pandit posted, alongside a video where he appealed to others from Bollywood to follow the actor’s footsteps.

Earlier, superstar Salman Khan had pledged to financially support 25,000 labourers in the film industry while filmmaker Rohit Shetty had donated Rs 51 lakh to the federation.

Tiwari said there have been enquires from the industry, including studio Yash Raj Films (YRF), to donate and help the daily wage workers.

“Yash Raj Films have also asked for list of 15,000 daily wage workers and we have given them that. The money Salman Khan is giving will directly go to their account. All of this money coming now will go to the federation’s account.

“Soon, we are setting up a joint account with the federation, Producers Guild and other bodies coming together. So that all the money that we collect, we will give to those who are in need, like our daily wage workers,” he added.