Leading from the front when making a case to provide financial help to industry folk hit by the pandemic, the Indian Motion Picture Producers’ Association (IMPPA) has decided to fund the education of those children whose producer-parents are financially unstable. IMPPA senior vice president Ashoke Pandit reveals that financial aid for educational purposes will be provided to the children till they graduate.

“The newly elected executive committee has decided to provide free education to the children of those producers who cannot afford it. The initiative, led by our president Abhay Kumar Sinha, can be availed by any producer who finds it difficult to get his children educated. He is excited to implement these measures. It is the first time that a film body will take up such an important initiative of children’s education. It is the duty of an organization to stand by its people.”

Highlighting that unlike popular opinion, every producer is not as financially sound as “Karan Johar or Aditya Chopra”, he states that several producers, particularly those who make small films, or regional offerings, have been struggling. “Many producers have shut shop, and hence cannot provide for their kids’ education. From the entire list of producers that we have, almost 40 per cent are now not active,” he says of the organization that has 7,000 producers listed in its database.

The system of providing educational aid, says Pandit, will be transparent, and names of parents receiving aid will not be made public. “We are writing to all the members and inviting applications. The committee will check them and the fees will be immediately paid to the schools or colleges. The funds will come from the IMPPA Trust. For now, we don’t require additional funding from our members. We have also issued an accident insurance policy worth one lakh rupees, for every member of IMPPA.”

This isn’t the first time that the committee is offering aid to its members. During the pandemic, the association had extended financial help to daily wage workers, and 1,200 needy producers. They provided free vaccination for its staff. The association counts Rohit Shetty, Ajay Devgn, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Sameer Nair, and Bhushan Kumar, among its members.