Unpaid for 2 Months, Employees of Bollywood-Style Theatre 'Kingdom Of Dreams' Uncertain of Future

Conceived along the lines of iconic broadway theatres, India’s very own extravagant live performance theatre “Kingdom of Dreams” has left its hundreds of employees in the lurch as they claim non-payment of salaries for over two months.

The lavish entertainment park, sprawling over acres of land in technology hub, Gurugram, seems to have defied the federal government's advisory and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s repeated appeal in which he asked employers to abstain from salary cuts, non-payments, and layoffs during this unprecedented crisis.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, an employee of Kingdom of Dreams told Sputnik: “We have not been receiving salaries for last two months. They asked us to apply for paid leaves which is against the government norms and sent us off without our salaries or even informing us when we will get our payments".

According to the employee, the national and international tourist destination suspended its operations on 16 March even before Modi announced the nationwide lockdown on 24 March due to the coronavirus pandemic and all the employees were asked to apply for their paid leaves. They claimed that the salaries for the month of February and March are still unpaid while there is no information about the third month as well.

“How are we supposed to sustain our livelihood amid these tough times? The Human Resource department and managers of the companies have gone in hiding, they aren’t picking up our calls. We do not even know if we still have our jobs or not", said the employee, who is staying in Delhi away from his family in rented accommodation, with apprehensions over bill and rent payments.

The situation is even worse for stage artists like dancers and musical soirees, who once charmed the audience with extravagant cinematic, theatrical performances, and death-defying stunts, have been claiming that they earned meagre salaries which only used to last for a month and the current financial crisis has left them with no option but to sell off their valuables.

The employee added that a handful of staff have been paid a meagre INR 2000-2500 ($30) but the company with a staff of 500 to 600 has issued no statement on the overdue salary of hundreds of staff. 

Several others, dancers, performers, and actors took to twitter to seek support from the government over non-payment of the salaries. 

Several attempts to get in contact with the Kingdom of Dreams management through calls or messages were made, but no one responded to Sputnik.

Defying Government Norms

The government of India has issued multiple communiqués ordering companies to abstain from deducting wages and refraining from layoffs or retrenchment during the lockdown period.

India's Ministry of Labour had advised both private and public sector employers to refrain from job cuts, staggered payments, or reduction of salaries, including those of casual workers. In a letter to state administrations, a top government official in the Ministry of Labour Heeralal Samariya expressed concern, saying that job or pay cuts in the current situation will only deepen the crisis.

He added that there should not be any consequential deduction in wages if a worker takes leave, and he/she should be deemed "on duty".

Prime Minister Modi made similar appeals while announcing both the first and second leg of lockdown. On 29 March, India's Ministry of Home Affairs issued an order stating that all employers should pay wages to their employees on the due date “without any deduction” during the lockdown period.