Poonam Dhillon responds to CINTAA allegations. Eight elected CINTAA members resigned amid allegations against Dhillon and Kolhapure.
Poonam Dhillon defended fundraising efforts and Rs 1 crore raised.
Dhillon questioned criticism over Rs 1 lakh artiste gifts.
Poonam Dhillon has responded to the CINTAA resignations, rejecting allegations that she and Senior Vice-President Padmini Kolhapure misused their positions. Eight elected members of the Cine and TV Artistes’ Association’s Executive Committee recently resigned and called for fresh elections, citing concerns over the organisation’s functioning.
Speaking to Hindustan Times, Dhillon defended the work she and Kolhapure have been doing for CINTAA. She said their efforts were aimed at strengthening the association and supporting its members rather than gaining personally from their positions.
Poonam Dhillon responds to CINTAA allegations
Dhillon 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 also addressed concerns surrounding CAWT, or the Cine Artistes’ Welfare Trust, which was established by senior actors including the late Dilip Kumar, Amrish Puri and Amjad Khan. Dhillon claimed the trust had not done enough to provide medical facilities to artistes and members.
“These members were trying to protect CAWT, a trust formed by senior actors like late Dilip Kumar, Amrish Puri and Amjad Khan and others. This trust has not fulfilled its duty to provide medical facilities for members. In the past few decades, no one on the current committee has raised money for CAWT,” she said.
CINTAA fundraising event under scrutiny
Dhillon also defended a recent fundraising event, saying several artistes performed without charging CINTAA. She said sarees were gifted to Kavita Krishnamurthy and Madhushree, while Nitin Mukesh received a kurta as a token of appreciation.
"The members who resigned are accusing us of buying sarees; did we buy those sarees for ourselves? We acknowledge that these artistes performed for us at no cost, through these gifts," Dhillon said.
She added that the event raised Rs 1 crore and questioned the criticism over the gifts. "We raised Rs 1 crore through these performances, so how is it a problem if we spend Rs 1 lakh on gifts for them?" she said.
Eight CINTAA members resign
The eight elected members who resigned are Hemant Pandey, Mukesh Rishi, Sahila Chadha, Heta Parmar, Puneet Issar, Vindu Dara Singh, Vikas Verma and Deepak Parashar.
Their resignations were submitted to General Secretary Upasana Singh, who told ANI that eight elected members had resigned and submitted complaints alleging that Dhillon and Kolhapure were misusing their positions.
CINTAA has maintained that its Executive Committee remains functional despite the resignations.
