On Wednesday 7 July, Maharashtra home minister Dilip Walse Patil had a meeting on the recent death by suicide of art director Rajesh Sapte and the involvement of some unions and their harassment.
The meeting was attended by a few other ministers and by people associated with various art and culture associations.
In his suicide note, Sapte, who died last week, had blamed Rakesh Maurya, an individual associated with a union, of harassment, preventing him from starting work on any of his forthcoming projects.
During the meeting, Meghraj Rajebhosle, president of the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Chitrapat Mahamandal, gave a list of suggestions related to the welfare of artistes working in the film industry.
These include getting all film unions to register with the government of Maharashtra, renewing the data of all unions and associations every 10 years, giving identity cards to artistes and workers in the film industry, and stopping raids on shooting locations in the state.
He also urged the government to lodge complaints against those who land up at shooting venues and harass workers or demand money, and to establish a single-window clearance system for shoots in the state.
At the meeting, Walse Patil promised that the guilty in Sapte’s case would be punished.