Technicians’ dues to be cleared within seven days

A day after the newly formed Kolkata Film Industries Workers’ Union urged technicians to unite against exploitation and manipulation of any kind, Federation of Cine Technicians and Workers of Eastern India (FCTWEI) — the mother body for technicians in Bengal — sent out a strong message of unity by bringing together 10,000-odd workers from Tollywood. Among those who braved the rains to attend the annual general meeting at a Kudghat ground on Sunday morning were representatives of Eastern India Motion Pictures Association (EIMPA) and Welfare Association of Television Producers (WATP), members of the many guilds under FCTWEI, that of its sister concerns across the country and heads of Bengali GECs.
State minister Arup Biswas, who said he had come in his capacity as the chairman of Tele Academy and Film Academy, was all praise for the technicians who gathered for the meet. He said Federation is without any political colouring and attempts have been made to break the unity of an industry that has seen greats like Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen. He added that the government has always been sensitive about the artistes’ and technicians’ needs and apart from medical insurance, they also have coverage for accidents. “There have been issues with payment of technicians. But channel heads have promised that the money would be cleared within seven days,” he said. His speech had Aparna Ghatak, general secretary of FCTWEI, cheering from the dais. Singer-politician Indranil Sen, who too addressed the gathering as a ‘technician’, said, “Since 2011, our vision has been to make Bengal the cultural gateway of India.” He said concerted efforts have been made to ruin what has been built and even though a group of people is calling itself ‘sanskritik mancha’, soon Tollywood will realise that it’s “apasankriti mancha”. Piya Sengupta, president of EIMPA, said to live under the same roof, there may sometimes be problems, but the process of clearing technicians’ payments was already on. Curiously, allegations were raised against a few production houses that did not clear payments against several months of work. After the Artists Forum intervened, the Federation too took up the cause of the technicians.
After the channel heads assured that technicians’ dues will soon be cleared, actor-director Parambrata Chatterjee said he was happy with the development. He added that as a member of the Directors Guild, he felt the need to find out what was the status of the payment. Swarup Biswas, president of FCTWEI, who chaired the meet, said Tollywood will see several new developments in the coming days. “Designers, music directors and camera caretakers had sent a proposal to the Federation to add them; we want to bring them under our fold. EC (Executive Committee) has already passed this and the new guidelines will reach everyone soon. Apart from that, we have also reformed the Co-Artist Union,” he said. Excited about the turn of events, Tollywood designer Abhishek Roy said, “Now, it will become mandatory for film units to hire costume designers and that’s a laudable move.” A message from CM Mamata Banerjee was also read out at the venue. In Video:Federation sent out a strong message of unity from their annual general meeting