Mumbai: Veteran actress and CINTAA president Poonam Dhillon has responded to allegations raised by members of the Cine and TV Artistes’ Association (CINTAA) following a spate of mass resignations.
CINTAA is facing an internal shake-up after eight elected Executive Committee members resigned from their positions, citing a loss of confidence in the association’s current functioning and calling for fresh elections.
The resigning members alleged that decision-making had increasingly become concentrated around CINTAA President Poonam Dhillon, Senior Vice President Padmini Kolhapure and a section of other committee members.
Hitting back at the allegations and defending the association’s fundraising efforts, Poonam said, “Padmini and I are working hard to bring goodwill to CINTAA by using our resources and contacts; it is not for personal gain. No one else was taking initiatives to do anything for members of the organisation, so I’m shocked by their allegations.”
She further claimed that the members were trying to protect CAWT (Cine Artistes’ Welfare Trust), a trust formed by senior actors, including late Dilip Kumar, Amrish Puri and Amjad Khan, among others.
According to Poonam, the trust has not fulfilled its responsibility of providing medical facilities to members.
“In the past few decades, no one on the current committee has raised money for CAWT. We recently raised funds through an event and gifted sarees to artistes like Kavita Krishnamurthy and Madhushree and a kurta to Nitin Mukesh, who performed without charging us. The members who resigned are accusing us of buying sarees. Did we buy those sarees for ourselves?” she said.
Poonam explained that the gifts were given to artistes who performed at the event without charging CINTAA. “Padmini and I had called them personally and they performed at our behest,” she added.
“We raised ₹1 crore through these performances, so how is it a problem if we spend ₹1 lakh on gifts for them?” Poonam questioned.
She also alleged that the members who resigned had been promised specific positions and other benefits if a new committee were to take charge.
“Puneet (Issar) has barely attended two meetings in two years, but the day they wanted to dissolve the committee, they were beckoned just to vote us out,” Poonam was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
She added, “We still have the majority and the committee still stands.”
Addressing General Secretary Upasana Singh’s allegation that the EGM (Extraordinary General Meeting) called by Poonam and her team was illegal, the actor said, “The resignation of former members was received by the General Secretary and not accepted by EC (Executive Committee). Meanwhile we held an EGM with a member who had withdrawn her resignation and inducted seven new members on top of the elected list. Only after that resignations were accepted. So the EC stands. This process was vetted by our legal team.”
Poonam further stated that she and Padmini have been covering certain CINTAA expenses from their own pockets and regularly visiting television sets to conduct checks.
She also said they have been educating members about labour codes and have several other initiatives planned for the betterment of the organisation.
