If you thought the year was only about celeb break-ups, you obviously thought wrong because news reports suggest that The Cine And TV Artists Association (CINTAA) has broken away from its parent body, Federation of Western Indian Cine Employees (FWICE), citing corruption charges, a leading daily has reported.

Speaking to the daily on the same was actor Sushant Singh, who is the general secretary and spokesperson of CINTAA, said, "Our biggest issue was the unethical practices by Junior Artists Association (JAA) and Mahila Kalakar Sangh (MKS), under the garb of job-loss compensation and closed membership. They may claim to be making new members, but it's just on paper." 

"Their combined strength is around 2,000 members, which doesn't suffice the producers' requirements. They don't admit new members, thinking it would affect the job prospects of the old ones. It's a vicious cycle,” the actor added.

He further told the site, “It has become an extortion racket. We decided to break away from the federation because they never objected to this practice, which in fact is the reason why a case has been filed against all its affiliates in Competition Commission of India."

Reacting to this allegation, Dilip Pithva, Honorary General Secretary, FWICE, told the daily, “These allegations are baseless. We have ended many practices, including job-loss compensation, and CINTAA is aware of it. They need to furnish proof if they believe otherwise.”

He also added, “We too keep hearing about discrepancies in CINTAA, but we can't point fingers without proof. They have indirectly hinted that we should dissociate from JAA and MKS, but that's not acceptable. We are here to fight for workers' rights and can't ignore their welfare."

He also mentioned that CINTAA had not waited for FWICE’s solution and had jumped to conclusion, the daily stated.