On the wake of the rising COVID-19 cases. On Friday, the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) wrote a two-page long letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, requesting him not to impose another lockdown. Chief Advisor, Ashoke Pandit of FWICE (Federation Of Western India Cine Employees) took to his Twitter handle and requested the honourable CM of Maharastra to not impose lockdown and also shared the copy of the letter. Ashoke post read as, "Fwice Mum requests Hon’ble CM ji not to impose complete lockdown as it will create a lot of fear, panic in the industry which is already in shambles. We assure the Govt. of Maharashtra of taking full precautions as per its SOPs & guidelines."
Excerpts of the letter:
Citing the ongoing situation, FWICE wrote, “ With the growing number of patients infected by the Covid-19 in Maharashtra, the Government in probably planning to impose a new LOCKDOWN in Maharashtra, particularly in Mumbai. Though we are concerned about the situation in the city, on behalf of scores of actors workers and technicians of the entire media and entertainment industry, we hereby urge the Government to not impose any more lockdown as it has already harmed the economy of the entertainment industry earlier and that people are trying to recover from the losses incurred due to the earlier lockdown.
The federation added a lot of daily wage worker’s families are dependent and the last year has been tough for each one, “ One whole year had passed with no work and no income, distressed lives and no food, hunger-stricken families and deprived children. It was a very dreadful and sorry state of people who were left alone to fight their own battles of hunger and poverty with absolutely no aid from any Government body (Neither State nor Central). The community of producers and top actors, actresses who then came together to the rescue of the daily wage earners of the media and entertainment industry and contributed at large to provide daily bread to this sole earners of families. Now the situation may even go worse as these community of producers, actors and actresses who helped our brethren are themselves not in a position to provide any further aid to these daily wage workers and technicians.
Citing that the lockdown could lead to huge losses, financially, the letter further states, “ The financial losses caused by the previous layoffs have not yet been recovered. Many people are still unemployed today. Unemployment would rise again if the government imposes the lockdown again. We strongly urge you and your Government to not impose this lockdown once again and disturb the economy of this largest revenue-generating industry. It will hamper the daily living of the scores of hands working in the industry. Difficult times do come and go. The need of the hour is to fight this deadly disease and cut off its spread by taking all precautions and we in the industry assure you of abiding by all the rules and regulations.”
The federation assured the CM of Maharashtra that they will increase the medical facilities on the set and will follow all the precautions and guidelines, the letter read as, “ Increase the medical facilities to cope with the large number of patients. The right way forward is to use masks, use more and antigen tests for quick detection, isolation or quarantine at home and most importantly - vaccinate at least five to ten million people per day, "
The entertainment industry has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic with movie releases being stalled and shootings standing disrupted. On the other hand, several celebs have contracted the virus. Celebrities like Alia Bhatt, Kartik Aaryan, R. Madhavan, Paresh Rawal, Fatima Sana Shaikh and several others are currently under home quarantine and recovering.