Coronavirus Crisis: Producers Guild of India sets up relief fund for daily wage earners impacted by halting of film shoots

By Vandana Srivastawa

on March 17, 2020

The coronavirus has impacted not only the people who are suffering from it but also those who have been left jobless or unemployed due to the self-quarantine precautionary measures taken by the government. In order to bring relief to the daily wage workers, the Producers Guild of India has set up a relief fund for those who will be most hit by the complete shutdown of the film, television show and web series shoot from March 19 to 31. The shoots have been halted as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus pandemic.

Siddharth Roy Kapur, president of the Producers Guild of India, said in a statement, “In light of the complete shutdown of all production-related activity for the foreseeable future due to the COVID-19 outbreak, there is bound to be a significant impact on the lives and livelihoods of daily wage earners in the industry. The Producers Guild has decided to set up a relief fund to help support those most affected by the shutdown. We would encourage the entire fraternity to contribute to the fund, to ensure that we can do all we can to minimize the disruption in the lives of our valued colleagues and associates in this difficult time.”

Producers Guild of India sets up Relief Fund for workers affected by production shutdown owing to the COVID-19 epidemic-Official Statement#SiddharthRoyKapur @kulmeetmakkar #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/OGARZbDWxl

— producersguildindia (@producers_guild) March 17, 2020

Earlier this week, the leading film bodies- – the Indian Motion Picture Producers’ Association (IMPPA), Western India Film Producers’ Association (WIFPA), Indian Film and TV Producers Council (IFTPC), Indian Film and Television Directors’ Association (IFTDA) and Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) –unanimously decided to put a halt to all production and shooting of all formats of entertainment in a joint meeting.

Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions, as well as Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Telefilms, have issued statements as well about halting all production and administrative work in lieu of the coronavirus outbreak.

(Source: Twiter)