Telangana Minister urges film workers, producers to resolve issue through talks

Hyderabad, Aug 11 (IANS) Telangana Cinematography Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, on Monday, disapproved the action of Telugu cinema workers to stop film shootings and advised them to amicably resolve the wage hike issue through talks with film producers in the state.

The Minister gave the advise when representatives of the Telugu Film Industry Employees Federation met him to apprise him of their demand and the crisis triggered by the refusal of the producers to accept them.

Venkat Reddy, however, told them that it was not appropriate on their part to go on strike and stop film shoots.

Venkat Reddy, who earlier met few producers, including Film Development Corporation Chairman Dil Raju, suggested that both the Federation and the producers constitute a joint committee to resolve the issue.

The Minister asked the representatives of both the sides to hold talks on Tuesday.

He advised Dil Raju and other producers to resolve the problems faced by the film workers.

Venkat Reddy urged both sides to have mutual understanding of their problems and adopt a flexible approach to address them.

The Minister assured them that the state government is also making all efforts to help the film industry.

His intervention came a day after the Federation threatened to completely stop the film shoots.

Workers belonging to all 24 unions have been on strike for last few days to demand wage revision.

The Federation had rejected the proposal of the producers to hike wages of workers of only 13 unions.

The Federation leaders termed this as an attempt to break their unity.

The Federation is willing to re-consider their original demand of 30 per cent wage hike demand.

The leaders, however, made it clear that wage hike for some unions while leaving out others was unacceptable to them.

According to Federation leaders, the Producers' Guild proposed hikes only for workers earning Rs 1,500 per day, excluding those at the Rs 2,500 level.

They demanded that all 10,000 daily wage workers should be treated equally, instead of creating divisions among them.

Concerned over the crisis faced by the film industry, producers Dil Raju, Supriya, Gemini Kiran and Damodar Prasad met the Minister and apprised him of the situation.

Later, a delegation of the Federation also met the Minister, who urged both sides to work for an amicable solution.

Meanwhile, a delegation of Tollywood producers met Andhra Pradesh Cinematography Minister Kandula Durgesh, on Monday, to discuss the issues related to the industry.

They submitted a memorandum to Minister Durgesh.

The producers also sought an appointment with Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan to discuss their problems.

The Minister also advised both producers and film workers to hold talks to solve the problems.

He said that he would take the issue to the notice of the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister.

He added that if there was a need for intervention by the state government, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan will take a decision.

--IANS

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