Kolkata: “Has SIR started in Tollywood?”. This is the question quietly circulating through Bengal’s entertainment industry after members were verbally told they must furnish their EPIC cards simply to retain voting rights for the upcoming Federation of Cine Technicians and Workers of Eastern India (FCTWEI) elections on Oct 31 and Nov 1. This policy, many are saying, mirrors the challenges voters faced during the recent Bengal assembly elections.On Sept 9, the West Bengal Registrar of Trade Unions requested the original registration certificate, the rules and constitution, meeting resolution books, membership and subscription registers, the cash book, Form-H annual returns with audit reports for 2023, 2024, and 2025, and letters of affiliation and receipts from the Eastern India Motion Pictures Directors Association (EIMPDA). This is one of 26 guilds that are part of the Federation.The letter mentioned that these documents were required to investigate complaints of irregularities at the Cine & Video Assistant Directors’ Guild of Eastern India and related unions. “The rational given was it would ensure transparency and protect worker interests under the Industrial Relations Code,” Bimal Dey, general secretary of EIMPDA.Dey said concerns were raised about the difficulty in tagging a membership card with the correct person. “In various guilds, there have been allegations of membership cards being issued in lieu of money. Some Bangladeshi citizens came here and got membership cards done. After SIR in Bengal, it is important to be transparent. Hence, we were verbally asked to submit EPIC cards for each member who would vote for the elections,” Dey said.Actor-turned BJP MLA Papiya Adhikary told TOI that she was unaware of this EPIC issue. “I have been busy with too many things now and dont’t know about this,” she said.Meanwhile, the industry is divided over this issue. Director Saibal Mitra, president of the Directors Association of Eastern India (DAEI) which is one of the 26 guilds that constitute the Federation, said: “We (DAEI) have not received any communication directly from the Registrar of Trade Unions or from the govt on this. The other directors’ union received it and informed us on the phone at the last moment. The process started thereafter from our end. We had only one day to furnish the documents.”He added that out of DAEI’s 400 members, only 100 had EPIC cards handy. “This is the first time we have been asked to furnish EPIC cards. Despite submission, some of us have not been made eligible. Our secretary has sent a mail to consider these cases,” said director Partha Pratim Banerjee of DAEI.Makeup artist Somnath Kundu agrees that this process is akin to implementing SIR in Tollywood. “We have found too many cases of fake members. There have been instances where card-holding members who never worked in the entertainment sector. I am happy that such a transparent process has been initiated in Tollywood,” Kundu said.
